Watch the Launch

Additional Media

Live: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from California with Earth observation satellite for Italy

Watch live coverage as SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket from California carrying the Cosmo-SkyMed 2nd Generation Earth observation satellite for the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 27, at …

COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation Mission

Livestream on X

SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

CSG-3

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Earth Science

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Space Launch Complex 4E Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
B1081 - Landing Zone 4

CSG-3 is an Earth observation satellite for the Italian Space Agency, part of a reconnaissance constellation using synthetic aperture radars operating in the X-band.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

hitura-nobad • Dec. 27, 2025, 6:18 p.m.

Now targeting Dec 28 at 02:09 UTC


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 27, 2025, 2:15 a.m.

Tweaked T-0.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 19, 2025, 7:41 p.m.

Tweaked T-0.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 16, 2025, 9:56 p.m.

GO for launch.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 8, 2025, 10:01 p.m.

NET December 28.


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1081

Status: Active


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: August 26, 2023
Last Flight: December 2, 2025
Flights: 20
Landings Attempted: 20
Landings Successful: 20
Previous B1081 Flights

Landing Information

The Falcon 9 first stage B1081 will land on Landing Zone 4 after its 21st flight.

Landing Attempt Confirmed

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 604 Failures: 15 Pending: 116

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI

Related News

NASASpaceflight

Launch Roundup: International launches fill manifest during last full week of 2025

The last full week of 2025 will be a busy one, with nine launches scheduled… The post Launch Roundup: International launches fill manifest during last full week of 2025 appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
2 days, 6 hours ago
Obzor-R No.1
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Assignment of payloads to this launch is uncertain. The Russian Obzor-R satellite is a planned X-band radar earth observation satellite desi…


LVM-3 (GSLV Mk III)
Success
3 days, 17 hours ago
BlueBird Block 2 #1
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, requi…


Long March 12A
Success
4 days, 18 hours ago
Demo Flight
Long March 12A Pad - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch of CASC/SAST’s Long March 12A rocket, with a dummy payload. The rocket’s 1st stage attempted to land on a landing pad about 300 km …


HANBIT-Nano
Failure
4 days, 19 hours ago
Spaceward
HANBIT Pad - Alcântara Space Center, Federative Republic of Brazil

Maiden orbital launch attempt for the South Korean start-up Innospace and its HANBIT-Nano small launch vehicle. Onboard this flight are five small sa…


H3-22
Failure
5 days, 18 hours ago
Michibiki 5 (QZS-5)
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

QZSS (Quasi Zenith Satellite System) is a Japanese satellite navigation system operating from inclined, elliptical geosynchronous orbits to achieve o…


Electron
Success
6 days, 13 hours ago
The Wisdom God Guides (iQPS Launch 6)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.


New Shepard
Success
1 week ago
NS-37
West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch - Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA

NS-37 is the 16th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 37th in the New Shepard program's history.


Long March 5
Success
1 week ago
TJSW-23
101 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Electron
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Don't Be Such A Square (STP-S30)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) - Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

STP-S30 is a complex mission that will deliver research experiments and technology demonstrations to orbit for the DoD and contribute to future space…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 15-13
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.