Thursday, February 8, 2018

Next SpaceX Launch Scheduled For Vandenberg On February 17th

Although it will not come anywhere close to the drama and spectacle of the launch of the Falcon Heavy, the next launch from Hawthorne-based SpaceX will have one thing going for it for Southern California fans: it will be from Vandenberg Air Force Base. According to the current SpaceX launch schedule, it will be launching a SpaceX Falcon 9 from launch pad SLC-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, just north of Santa Barbara on February 17th. The payload for the Falcon 9 will be the Paz satellite, being sent to space for Madrid, Spain-based Hisdesat. The payload includes a radar imaging payload, plus weather sensors and ship tracking equipment. SpaceX's last launch from Vandenberg was a jaw dropping light show over Southern California which caused millions of people to wonder if either someone had launched a nuclear missile or aliens had invaded; it's unclear on the exact launch time for the Hisdesat mission, which will determine how visible the launch is to the general public. Image: SpaceX's spaceman, Starman, headed towards Mars on Monday.

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