Vandenberg, the next two weeks

Launch Watch.

Every rocket going up from Vandenberg in the next two weeks: when it goes, what it's carrying, which way it flies and what it will look like from Santa Barbara.

  • Flight path (the direction, not the exact track)
  • Coast Guard hazard area: boats are warned off during the launch
  • Your view from Santa Barbara: look west-northwest
  • Where the booster lands
  1. Mon Nov 25:42 PM

    Falcon 9, USSF-432, a classified Space Force launch

    Jellyfish odds: good About 35 minutes after sunset, so good odds of a jellyfish: the plume catches sunlight high above a dark sky.

    Heads south-southeast and passes about 40 miles west-southwest of town. The booster lands on a droneship about 355 miles out. Direction confirmed by the Coast Guard's hazard warning for this launch.

  2. Thu Nov 56:21 PM

    Falcon 9, Starlink satellites

    Jellyfish possible About 80 minutes after sunset, so a jellyfish is possible if the sky is clear.

    Heads south-southeast and passes about 40 miles west-southwest of town. The booster lands on a droneship about 355 miles out. Direction estimated from the orbit; the Coast Guard warning usually confirms it about a week out.

  3. Mon Nov 97:03 PM

    Falcon 9, USSF-xxx ("R-5"), a classified Space Force launch

    Night launch After dark, so a bright streak climbing south for a few minutes. Time not yet confirmed.

    Heads south-southeast and passes about 40 miles west-southwest of town. The booster lands on a droneship about 355 miles out. Direction estimated from the orbit; the Coast Guard warning usually confirms it about a week out.

Where to look

West-northwest, toward Point Conception. Anywhere with an open view up the coast works: Ellwood Bluffs, Shoreline Park on the Mesa or the top of Elings Park. The rocket clears the hills about a minute after liftoff and arcs south over the ocean.

The jellyfish

Launch in the hour or so after sunset (or before sunrise) and the rocket climbs out of Earth's shadow into sunlight while the sky here is dark. The exhaust spreads into a glowing plume that can stretch across the sky. Night launches are a bright streak; daytime ones are a thin contrail.

Times slip

Launches move by minutes, hours or days, sometimes after the countdown starts. Check SpaceX's launch page before you head out.

Updated Saturday 6:12 AM. Times from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs. Confirmed directions come from the launch hazard areas in the Coast Guard's weekly Local Notice to Mariners (District 11), usually out about a week ahead. Until then the path is worked out from the orbit each mission flies (Starlink Group 15 flies a 70° orbit; Groups 11 and 17 fly 53°). Either way it shows the direction, not the exact track. Map: OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data from OpenStreetMap.

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