Live coverage: SpaceX to send Starlink satellites to orbit with Tuesday night launch from California

Vandenberg launch fans, clear your Tuesday evening: SpaceX is targeting an 8:45 p.m. PDT liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East, sending another batch of Starlink broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit on a south-southwesterly trajectory over the Pacific, Spaceflight Now reported.

For those of us in the 805, this is one of the better launch windows on the calendar. An 8:45 p.m. departure from SLC-4E means the Falcon 9 climbs into deepening twilight — conditions that routinely produce the illuminated plume spectacles visible from Santa Maria down through Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and even Ventura County on clear evenings. South Coast residents with a clear western horizon should keep an eye out shortly after liftoff, especially the signature maneuvering plume as the first stage flips for its return trip.

What's launching

The mission, designated Starlink 17-50, will carry 24 broadband internet satellites to low Earth orbit, per Spaceflight Now. Once deployed, the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit will sit at roughly 11,000 — a milestone for the megaconstellation that Vandenberg has played a major role in building, thanks to the base's unique access to southward trajectories that other US launch sites can't easily reach.

That south-southwesterly flight path is the reason Vandenberg exists as an orbital launch site at all. Flying out over open ocean means no populated land under the flight path — and for viewers, it means the exhaust plume is backlit beautifully against the evening sky when timing lines up, as it does tonight.

A well-traveled booster comes home

The first stage for this mission, booster B1097, is on its 12th flight — a veteran by any measure. Spaceflight Now noted its previous missions include the Twilight and Transporter-17 rideshare flights, the Sentinel-6B Earth-observation satellite, the classified NROL-172 mission, and seven earlier Starlink batches.

Roughly eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1097 will attempt a landing on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, stationed in the Pacific downrange. Success would mark the 219th landing on that vessel and the 651st Falcon booster landing overall, according to Spaceflight Now.

Central Coast residents won't hear the sonic boom for this one — droneship landings happen far offshore — but the RTLS (return-to-launch-site) missions that occasionally fly from SLC-4E are the ones that rattle windows from Orcutt to Lompoc. This isn't one of those, so expect a quieter evening punctuated only by the sight of the booster's descent burn, sometimes faintly visible from coastal vantage points.

How to watch

Spaceflight Now's live coverage begins about 30 minutes before the 8:45 p.m. liftoff. Local options abound as usual: the classic spots along Ocean Avenue in Lompoc, the bluffs near Jalama Road, and high ground in Orcutt and Santa Maria all offer views of SLC-4E. Weather along the coast in August can be fickle with the marine layer, so check the low-cloud forecast before heading out — sometimes the launch is visible above the fog deck from higher elevations even when the beach is socked in.

As always with Vandenberg launches, scrub risk is real. Marginal upper-level winds or range issues can push the attempt to a backup window, so keep an eye on SpaceX's official channels before making the drive.

Whenever it flies, tonight's launch is another reminder of how routine — and how remarkable — orbital launches from the Central Coast have become. A twice-flown-a-month cadence, reusable boosters logging double-digit missions, and a constellation of 11,000 satellites overhead, with a healthy share of them sent on their way from right here in the 805.