Astro Radar
Go for launch · SpaceX
USSF-266
Falcon 9 · Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Liftoff in 5 days 10 h
- Liftoff
- Wed, Nov 18 · 8:49 AM PST at the pad
- Status
- Go for launch
- Vehicle
- Falcon 9
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
- Location
- Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
- Orbit
- Polar
- Mission type
- Government/Top Secret
- Provider
- SpaceX
- Mission page
- Official mission page
The mission
Falcon 9 is set to launch USSF-266 for SpaceX from Space Launch Complex 4E in Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, Wed, Nov 18 · 4:49 PM UTC. Target orbit: Polar. Mission type: Government/Top Secret. The first stage is booster B1081, on its 29th flight. It is SpaceX's 748th launch.
A classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bus, based on locations of ascent rocket stage drop zones being fits with previous SDA Transport Layer launches.
Mission description from Launch Library 2.
See it on the radar: the countdown, the flight path and where to look from your ZIP code.
Can I see it?
Set your ZIP code on the radar to see how far you are from the pad.
Liftoff is in daylight at the pad. In daylight a rocket shows only as a white exhaust trail, which people usually see from within about 124 mi (200 km).
It should head south from the pad. We guess the heading from the target orbit, so the real path can differ.
Whether you can see it depends on where you are, the weather and the exact time. Open it on Astro Radar with your ZIP code for a modeled estimate of where to look, worked out for every second of the flight. It is an estimate, not a promise.
Watch it with friends
Send USSF-266 · Falcon 9 to a group chat on Astro, or make it a plan: Astro opens a new plan called Watch USSF-266 · Falcon 9 with the day and time filled in, for a group or a friend.
Astro asks you to sign in first, then brings you back to this launch. It gets only the launch's name, time and link, and only when you press the button. Astro is for people 18 and older.
From Launch Library 2, as of Nov 13, 6:26 AM UTC. Times and status can change; the radar has the latest.