Vandenberg Launch Schedule
Upcoming launches out of Vandenberg AFB, California
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 9-13
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
November 24, 2024
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD December, 2024
Falcon 9 Block 5 | NAOS
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD December, 2024
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 Orbit
Minotaur IV | NROL-174
Orbital ATK | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD December, 2024
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Transporter 12 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD January, 2025
Firefly Alpha | FLTA006 (Lockheed Martin Demo 1)
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD March, 2025
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SPHEREx & PUNCH
SpaceX | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBD April, 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 OrbitMinotaur 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 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 OrbitStarship
Integrated Flight Test 6
Orbital Launch Mount A - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USASixth test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle.
Falcon 9
GSAT-20 (GSAT-N2)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAGSAT-20 is an Indian geostationary Ka-band high-throughput communications satellite. GSAT 20 is reportedly built on the I-6K unified modular bus a…
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 9-12
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Falcon 9
Optus-X/TD7
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USAAn unannounced geostationary communication satellite built by Northrop Grumman, alleged for the Australian telecommunications operator Optus. Details…
Long March 7
Tianzhou-8
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of ChinaSeventh cargo delivery mission to the Chinese space station.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 6-68
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAA batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 9-11
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Long March 4B
Haiyang 4-01
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaNext generation Chinese ocean salinity measurements satellite to study ocean climatic changes and its effects on ecology and biological cycles.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 6-69
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAA batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Falcon 9
Koreasat 6A
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USAThe Koreasat 6A spacecraft, built by Thales Alenia Space, will have 20 transponders for fixed satellite services and six for TV broadcasting to repla…
