Update (8:31 p.m.): The launch scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed. The original article can be found below.
Southern California residents and skywatchers across the western U.S. may get a glimpse of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket lifting off the coast of Santa Barbara County on Tuesday night.
The launch, part of a “Summer Noise” mission originally scheduled for Monday, will begin at 9:03 p.m. PST from Vandenberg Space Command Center, about 160 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The rocket’s exhaust, illuminated by the setting sun against a darkening sky, could be visible across a wide swath of the western U.S. during the launch. Flying over the Pacific Ocean.
Rockets launched from the base and their exhaust smoke sometimes Visible from hundreds of miles away If the sky is clear, you can see the rockets flying along the coast. Launches just after sunset or before sunrise offer the best views, as the rockets reflect the sunlight against the dark sky.
Sunset in Los Angeles is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:08 p.m.
click here Live coverage by Firefly and NASASpaceflight.com.
The launch will be the Alpha rocket’s fifth mission and comes six months after its last flight. Monday’s launch was postponed due to a problem with the ground release gear.
The Noise of Summer Earth science mission will launch eight CubeSats — small, boxy satellites — from a 95-foot-tall Alpha rocket, which made its first test flight in September 2021. The CubeSats were selected as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, created to provide a path into space for satellites developed by U.S. universities and nonprofits.
Two of the satellites will operate in pairs and were built to improve relative navigation between spacecraft in orbit. The goal is to address the problem of increasing satellite congestion in orbit.
click here You can read more about the eight satellites here.