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Update: This article has been updated to correct an inaccuracy and to add new information.<\/em><\/p>\n Hours after the Artemis II astronauts are due to splash down off the coast<\/a> of San Diego, California, SpaceX could launch a rocket<\/a> about 200 miles north.<\/p>\n A Falcon 9 rocket is due to get off the ground<\/a> Friday, April 10 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base<\/a> in Santa Barbara County. Its mission? Deploy SpaceX’s Starlink broadband internet satellites<\/a> into low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n The launch window is due to open shortly after the four Artemis II astronauts are due to return from a 10-day mission around the moon<\/a> and make a water landing in the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n Interested in catching a sight of the launch? Plenty of nearby spots<\/a> are popular among spectators.<\/p>\n Just keep in mind that postponements due to weather or issues with rockets are common with spaceflight. Check back with the VC Star<\/a> for any updates on the impending launch.<\/p>\n In the meantime, here’s what to know about the upcoming SpaceX rocket launch from Vandenberg<\/a> in Santa Barbara County, as well as where to watch it.<\/p>\n Vandenberg Space Force Base: <\/strong>California ends 2025 with record number of rocket launches. What’s next?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n SpaceX is working toward<\/a> a Friday, April 10, launch from Southern California, with a four-hour launch window opening at 7:39 p.m. PT, according to a launch alert<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory<\/a>\u00a0suggests a backup opportunity is available the next day if the launch were to be postponed.<\/p>\n The launch will take place from\u00a0Space Launch Complex 4-East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base\u00a0in Santa Barbara County<\/a>.<\/p>\n As has become typical in 2026, the rocket will\u00a0fly at a southern trajectory<\/a>.<\/p>\n SpaceX will launch its famous two-stage 230-foot Falcon 9<\/a> rocket, one of the world’s most active, to deliver 25 Starlink satellites<\/a> into low-Earth orbit, an altitude nearer Earth’s atmosphere where they’re able to circle the planet quickly.<\/p>\n Because Vandenberg is an active military base, the launch complex does not host public viewings of launches.<\/p>\n But if conditions are clear, rocket launches from the Vandenberg Space Force Base can be viewed from several locations as far as Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Space Launch Schedule, a website dedicated to tracking upcoming rocket launches,\u00a0provided a list of places in Santa Barbara County in California<\/a>\u00a0to catch the launch in person:<\/p>\n The city of Lompoc in Santa Barbara County is filled with places to catch a rocket launch. The city’s tourism bureau, Explore Lompoc,\u00a0maintains this list<\/a>\u00a0with additional viewing locations:<\/p>\n Visit Ventura<\/a>, the tourism bureau in Ventura County, provided a list to the USA TODAY Network of suggested locations to see a rocket launch from the county:<\/p>\n SLO CAL<\/a>, a countywide destination marketing and management organization, maintains a list of its recommended best locations to watch a rocket launch in San Luis Obispo County to the north of the launch site:<\/p>\n Other cities in California where you might glimpse the Falcon 9 rocket soaring overhead \u2013 particularly after sunset and before sunrise \u2013 as it climbs into the sky on a southern trajectory include:<\/p>\n Residents of Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County\u00a0often stand to be the most likely to hear sonic booms<\/a>, SpaceX said.<\/p>\n The sonic booms \u2013 brief, thunder-like noises that are often heard from the ground when a spacecraft or aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound \u2013 could last for up to 10 minutes after liftoff, Vandenberg has added.<\/p>\n “Areas local to Vandenberg Space Force Base will hear the initial low rumble of take-off,” Vandenberg has also said.<\/p>\n Following the launch, the Falcon 9 rocket’s booster will aim to land on a SpaceX drone ship, nicknamed “Of Course I Still Love You,” in the Pacific Ocean. This allows for SpaceX personnel to recover the booster so it can be reused in future spaceflights.<\/p>\n SpaceX is the commercial spaceflight company<\/a> that billionaire\u00a0Elon Musk<\/a>, the world’s richest man, founded in 2002 and leads as the CEO.<\/p>\n SpaceX is\u00a0headquartered at Starbase\u00a0in South Texas<\/a> near the U.S.-Mexico border. The site, which is where SpaceX has been conducting routine flight tests\u00a0of its 400-foot megarocket known as Starship<\/a>, was recently voted by residents to become its own city.<\/p>\n As a major government contractor, SpaceX serves as the launch service provider for a variety of government missions both civil and military.<\/p>\n For the Department of Defense, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 helps launch classified satellites<\/a> and other payloads into space. And for NASA, Falcon 9 most often helps propel astronauts<\/a> to the International Space Station<\/a> on SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule \u2013 the only U.S vehicle capable of carrying NASA astronauts to orbit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Starlink is SpaceX’s internet satellite business.<\/p>\n With more than 10,000 satellites<\/a> in its growing orbital constellation, Starlink has become a lucrative part<\/a> of Musk’s business empire, serving millions of customers around the world.<\/p>\n SpaceX, which bills itself as the only satellite internet provider with its own reusable rocket capable of deploying the technology, has spent years delivering the satellites to orbit\u00a0with a regular cadence of rocket launches\u00a0from Florida and California.<\/p>\n Starlink satellites operate from low-Earth orbit, about 341 miles up, which is much closer to Earth’s atmosphere than other satellites. That not only allows Starlink satellites to offer high connection speeds than satellites further out in space, but to reach rural areas and regions where internet service is not readily accessible.<\/p>\n Starlink missions: <\/strong>Why does SpaceX launch Starlink satellites from California?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The Vandenberg Space Force Base\u00a0is a rocket launch site in Santa Barbara County<\/a>\u00a0in Southern California.<\/p>\n Established in 1941, the site was previously known as the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Though it’s a military base, the site also hosts\u00a0both civil and commercial space launches<\/a>\u00a0for entities like NASA<\/a> and SpaceX.<\/p>\n Space Launch Delta 30, a unit of Space Force, is responsible for managing the launch operations at Vandenberg, as well as the missile tests that take place at the base.<\/p>\n Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Less than an hour before the Artemis II astronauts are due to land near California, SpaceX could launch a rocket about 200 miles north. Update: This article has been updated to correct an inaccuracy and to add new information. Hours after the Artemis II astronauts are due to splash down off the coast of San … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Is-there-a-rocket-launch-today-Where-when-to-see.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26943,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26941\/revisions\/26943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Is there a rocket launch today? Next mission from Vandenberg in California<\/h2>\n
Where is the next launch from California? What to know about trajectory<\/h2>\n
What is launching from Vandenberg? SpaceX to deploy Starlink satellites<\/h2>\n
Where to watch California rocket launches in Santa Barbara County<\/h2>\n
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Where to watch California rocket launches in Ventura County<\/h2>\n
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Where to watch California rocket launches in San Luis Obispo County<\/h2>\n
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Other cities in California where rockets may be visible<\/h2>\n
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Will there be sonic booms?<\/h2>\n
What to know about booster re-entry<\/h2>\n
Does Elon Musk own SpaceX? What to know about rocket company<\/h2>\n
What is Starlink?<\/h2>\n
What is the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California?<\/h2>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"