SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Tuesday, and area residents may hear a sonic boom.
The 57-minute launch window opens at 11:13 a.m.
A livestream of the launch is scheduled to begin about 15 minutes before liftoff.
About eight minutes after liftoff, SpaceX will aim to land the rocket’s first stage booster back on land at Vandenberg Space Force Base. This is likely to produce one or more sonic booms that people in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties may be able to hear.
The rocket will be delivering a NASA payload called TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) into low-Earth orbit. The twin satellites will study how solar wind impacts the Earth’s magnetic field. According to NASA, this information will help scientists better understand and prepare for impacts to Earth, such as auroras and disruptions to telecommunications.
TRACERS through Earth’s Polar Cusps
Visualization of the orbit of the twin TRACERS satellites (pink) exploring electricity and magnetism in Earth’s polar regions. The light-blue ‘flows’ represent the particle currents traveling from the edge of the magnetosphere, through the region of the ionosphere, and back out to the magnetosphere. (Video courtesy NASA)
Several other satellites will also be along for the ride, including SEOPS’ Epic Athena, Skykraft’s Skykraft 4, Maverick Space Systems’ REAL, Tyvak’s LIDE, and York Space Systems’ Bard.
If Tuesday’s launch is scrubbed, SpaceX says it has a backup launch opportunity at the same time on Wednesday.
