Vandenberg Launch Schedule
Upcoming launches out of Vandenberg AFB, California
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-3
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
December 29, 2024
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Transporter 12 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD January, 2025
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SPHEREx & PUNCH
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD February, 2025
Status: To Be Determined
Mission:
SPHEREx is a planned two-year astrophysics mission to survey the sky in the near-infrared light, which, though not visible to the human eye, serves as a powerful tool for answering cosmic questions involving the birth of the universe, and the subsequent development of galaxies. It also will search for water and organic molecules – essentials for life as we know it – in regions where stars are born from gas and dust, known as stellar nurseries, as well as disks around stars where new planets could be forming. Astronomers will use the mission to gather data on more than 300 million galaxies, as well as more than 100 million stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will share a ride to space with SPHEREx. It consists of four suitcase-sized satellites, which will focus on the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona) and how it generates the solar wind. The spacecraft also will track coronal mass ejections – large eruptions of solar material that can drive large space weather events near Earth – to better understand their evolution and develop new techniques for predicting such eruptions.
Polar OrbitFalcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD March, 2025
Firefly Alpha | TacSat
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD March, 2025
Status: To Be Determined
Mission:
First of up to 25 launches of Low Earth Orbit technology demonstration satellites to be built and operated by Lockheed Martin. TacSat is an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance spacecraft with a mission to prove specialized sensing and communications capabilities on orbit. The satellite will participate in exercises that highlight cross-domain kill-web connectivity, enabling timely execution of tactical space missions. TacSat will host a proven Lockheed Martin infrared sensor on board that brings previously developed technology to space for the first time. This sensor produces high quality imagery and it can interface with federated Battle Management Command & Control (BMC2) combat systems to provide joint forces with a comprehensive view of threats. The satellite will also feature Lockheed Martin’s first 5G.MIL® payload on orbit. This provides cellular-like networking for military space assets, making satellite constellations more resilient. It also helps enable seamless connectivity with tools in the air, at sea and on land. Launch operation will also again demonstrate responsive space pre-launch operation capabilities.
Low Earth Orbit
Minotaur IV | EWS OD-1
Orbital ATK | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD May, 2025
Status: To Be Determined
Mission:
The Electro-Optical/Infrared Weather System (EWS) Operational Demonstration-1 (OD-1) is a weather satellite for the United States Space Force. It is a prototype satellite made by General Atomics that will be place in LEO for a three-year demonstration mission of new EO/IR sensor technologies to various US military branches, and to act as a stop-gap for Defense Department needs for weather data.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitFirefly Alpha | LM400 Demo
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD June, 2025
Status: To Be Determined
Mission:
Demonstration mission for Lockheed Martin new LM400 satellite bus, which will carry a communications payload. The satellite bus is customizable to support different missions, including remote sensing, communications, imagery and radar Earth observations. It can also support different kinds of orbits and launch configurations.
Low Earth OrbitFalcon 9 Block 5 | NAOS
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD June, 2025
Status: To Be Determined
Mission:
NAOS (National Advanced Optical System) is the space component of Luxembourg's governmental dual-use observation satellite system LUXEOSys (Luxembourg Earth Observation System). Its purpose is to provide high resolution images to national and international governmental and military organizations such as NATO. The 800 kg satellite is built by OHB Italia and is equipped with a very high-resolution optical camera with a ground reolution of 50 cm in an around 450 km high sun-synchronous orbit. It will have a operational life time of 7 years.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitMinotaur IV | STP-S29A
Orbital ATK | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD September, 2025
Status: To Be Determined
Mission:
STP-S29A is a mission under the U.S. Department of Defense's Space Test Program (STP) that will deliver technology demonstrations to orbit and contribute to future space system development, with this launch delivering up to 200 kg of STP cubesats to Low Earth Orbit. The main payload will be STPSat-7, an ESPA class satellite based on the Aegis Aerospace M-1 satellite bus used on the STPSat-4 mission for hosting research and technology demonstration payloads for the Department of Defense (DoD). One of the payload is U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Lightsheet Anomaly Resolution and Debris Observation (LARADO) instrument, used to detect and characterize lethal non-trackable orbital debris with lasers in orbit.
Low Earth OrbitFalcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer B
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD December, 2025
Falcon 9
Bandwagon 2 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USADedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers…
Long March 3
TJSW-12
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaChinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.
Ceres-1S
Tianqi 33-36
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch4 small satellites for LEO Internet of Things (IoT) communication purposes.
KAIROS
Flight 2
Space One Launch Pad - Spaceport Kii, JapanSecond flight of the KAIROS launch vehicle. 5 satellites for testing various technologies will be on board: * TATARA-1 * PARUS-T1A * SC-Sat1…
Falcon 9
O3b mPower 7 & 8
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USASeventh and eighth of a constellation of eleven high-throughput communications satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) built by Boeing and operated by…
Falcon 9
NROL-149
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USASixth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to…
Falcon 9
GPS III SV07 (RRT-1)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAGPS-III (Global Positioning System) is the first evolution stage of the third generation of the GPS satellites. It consists of the first ten (known a…
Long March 2D
PIESAT-2 09-12
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.
Long March 5B/YZ-2
SatNet LEO Group 01
101 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of ChinaA batch of 10 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group…
Electron
Stonehenge
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) - Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USASub-orbital launch of the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program for a confidential customer.
