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Since this launch is just after sunset, weather permitting and no scubs, it will be visable over a wide area, best views of powered stage of launch, Southern Nevada, Arizona, southeastern California. Cheer the Delta IV on! her first west coast flight with a secret payload that are the eyes and ears of our nations defense in the high frontier. Another bird to watch the bad guys. Updates here..... http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d317/status.html

The final piece of Boeing's new generation Delta 4 rocket fleet makes its long-awaited debut this week when a booster blasts off from the U.S. West Coast for the first time, punctuating the company's work to develop a line of launchers and build pads in Florida and California. Conceived in the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program to field new American rockets to carry government payloads for the next two decades, the Delta 4 has flown five times in its medium- and heavy-lift configurations from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Now, the maiden mission from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base is...

The first Vandenberg AFB dusk launch in nearly three years is slated for Thursday, September 22. The Minotaur booster is scheduled to lift- off from south Vandenberg at 19:24 PDT, the start of a 16-minute launch window. Several minutes later, the rocket will place the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's Streak satellite into a polar orbit. As seen from Santa Barbara, lift-off occurs 29 minutes after sunset. The Minotaur is expected to climb into sunlight during the second stage burn at about T+90 seconds. The exhaust plume will be illuminated by the sun and may create a nice display visible...

ST. LOUIS, September 21, 2005 –- The Boeing [NYSE: BA] Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program team and the Missile Defense Agency emplaced the ninth GMD interceptor in its underground silo at Fort Greely, Alaska on Sept. 18. The operation involved the use of a special crane to lower the interceptor into the silo. This is the seventh interceptor emplaced at the Fort Greely Site. Two interceptors also were emplaced at the GMD Site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in 2004. The GMD system consists of integrated ground-based interceptors, a variety of sensors and an expansive battle management command,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is readying an ultra-sophisticated radar system to float slowly around the world to Alaska where it will play a key role in a multibillion-dollar project to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles. The 2,000-ton Sea-Based X-Band Radar is to be hoisted aboard a platform as large as two football fields this week or next, depending on wind and weather in Corpus Christi, Texas, where it has been under initial sea trials. The radar is designed to track and distinguish long-range ballistic missiles from decoys that could be used in an attack on the United States....

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will have a limited defense against incoming ballistic missiles by the end of this year, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in prepared remarks, calling it a "triumph of hope and vision over pessimism and skepticism." AFP/Boeing/File Photo Rumsfeld hailed the developers of the missile defense system in a speech prepared for delivery to a conference in Huntsville, Alabama, a day after President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and Senator John Kerry (news - web sites), the Democratic presidential nominee, clashed over the controversial project on the campaign trail. "It has been...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2004 July 22 Aura Launch Credit & Copyright: Rick Baldridge Explanation: In this alluring time exposure, star trails arc across the night sky above Monterey Bay and the lights of Santa Cruz, California, USA. But since the exposure began around 3:01am PDT on July 15 it also records the long trail of a Delta II rocket lofting NASA's Aura spacecraft into Earth orbit. Watching from a vantage point...

If all goes well, a Delta II rocket will take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California at 3:01:59. This will be the fourth attempt. Live coverage right now in countdown mode on NASA TV webstream. Image is clear on dial-up ISP. Listen for a loud sonic boom on the West Coast. "Image : Aura's Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is designed to profile atmospheric chemistry across the globe. Aerosols are one of the trace gases humans introduce into the atmospheric chemistry through pollution. Credit: NASA" "Aura is part of the Earth Observing System (EOS), a program dedicated to monitoring the...

International Launch Services (ILS), a Lockheed Martin Corp. joint venture, has been given the green light for what will be the first Atlas V launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch will be from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 3-East, which is being refurbished to support a late 2005 launch for this national security mission. The launch is for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), as one of 18 missions assigned to ILS and the Lockheed Martin-built Atlas V rocket under the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. This is the formal contract for one of those...

A Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket has lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California carrying a classified payload into orbit for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Check our our Mission Status Center to follow the rocket's climb to orbit.

Final Titan II launches from Vandenberg by Staff Sgt. Rebecca Danét 30th Space Wing Public Affairs 10/20/2003 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- The Air Force's 13th and final Titan II rocket launched a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program payload from here Oct. 18 at 9:17 a.m. The launch took place following two recent delays. The mission was delayed Oct. 15 when an air-conditioning duct became detached from the booster's payload fairing. The fairing surrounds the satellite atop the rocket. The duct is required to maintain environmental conditions for the satellite before launch. It was delayed again Oct. 16...

MISSILE LAUNCH WEDNESDAY A Titan II missile is scheduled for launch this Wednesday morning from Vandenberg AFB. The vehicle is slated to leave SLC-4W at south base at 09:17 PDT, the start of a 10-minute launch window. Several minutes later the Titan will place a DMSP military weather satellite into a low altitude polar orbit selected to give the spacecraft's sensors global coverage. For up-to-date countdown status and further information regarding this launch, go to the Spaceflight Now web site at: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/status.html http://www.spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/031012saga.html http://www.spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/031010ascent.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TITAN II SET TO LAUNCH Vandenberg AFB News Release (Vandenberg AFB, OCT 10) The era...

ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Brian Webb Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp Reaching more than 2,200 e-mail addresses worldwide 2003 August 14 (Thursday) 06:02 PDT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY MISSILE LAUNCH A prototype anti-missile interceptor booster is scheduled for launch this Saturday from Vandenberg AFB. Launch will probably occur at, or shortly, after 11:00 PDT, the start of a 6-hour launch window. This launch was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but it appears to have slipped to Saturday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a news media advisory from the Missile Defense Agency. It has been reformatted for publication. MISSILE DEFENSE ROCKET...

MINUTEMAN LAUNCH TOMORROW A Minuteman III strategic missile is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg AFB early Wednesday morning, August 6th. The routine test will send three unarmed warheads on a ballistic (non-orbital) trajectory to the central Pacific. The vehicle will probably leave its silo at northwest Vandenberg at 01:31 PDT or sometime shortly afterward. The launch window extends from 01:01 to 07:31* PDT. The vehicle will quickly climb into the night sky and send the warheads on a 30-minute trip to the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein atoll, some 4,200 nautical miles downrange. *The Vandenberg AFB news release gives the...

---------------------------------------------------------------------- VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE As of 2003 April 9 This schedule is a composite of unclassified information from government, industry, and other reliable sources. The dates and times may not agree with those posted on the official Vandenberg AFB launch schedule (mocc.vandenberg.af.mil/launchsched.asp). Launch Time/Window Date (PST/PDT) Vehicle Pad/Silo -------- ----------- ---------- -------- JUN 1 ~12:00 Pegasus XL Offshore Payload is OrbView 3 commercial reconnaissance satellite. Pegasus will be air-launched from an L-1011 staged from Vandenberg AFB JUN Unannounced Minuteman III LF-04 ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is at least one unarmed warhead. Impact area is near Kwajalein in the...

ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Brian Webb, KD6NRP Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp 2003 January 10 (Friday) 07:20 PST ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY ROCKET LAUNCH A Delta II rocket with two scientific satellites is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg AFB tomorrow (Saturday January 11th). Lift-off is set for 16:45 PST, the start of a 45-minute launch window. If all goes well the ICESat and CHIPSat satellites will be placed into orbit. At lift-off the Sun will be above the horizon for observers in most of California. However, this will be an evening twilight launch for Arizona, Nevada, and Utah....

SUNDAY VANDENBERG LAUNCH After several delays, the Air Force will make another attempt on Sunday to launch the Coriolis military R&D satellite. A Titan II booster carrying the spacecraft is set to lift-off from Vandenberg AFB tomorrow morning at 06:18 PST, the start of a 15-minute launch window. Following lift-off, the refurbished strategic missile will begin heading southward. Several minutes later the Titan will place Coriolis into an egg-shaped orbit that circles the Earth's poles. Since launch is set for morning twilight, a nice visual display might occur as the vehicle emerges from the Earth's shadow and sunlight reflects off...

ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Brian Webb, KD6NRP Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp 2002 December 14 (Saturday) 09:35 PST ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUNDAY LAUNCH A Titan II rocket carrying a military satellite is scheduled for launch Sunday morning from Vandenberg AFB. The Titan is set to leave south Vandenberg at 06:18 PST, the start of a 15-minute launch window. Following lift-off, the refurbished strategic missile will begin heading southward. Several minutes later the Coriolis satellite should be placed in an elliptical polar orbit. Since launch is slated for morning twilight, a nice visual display might occur as the vehicle...

Integrated Flight Test 9 Scheduled The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) will conduct a developmental flight test to include the planned intercept of a long-range ballistic missile target in support of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) test program on Oct. 14, 2002. The test will involve the launch of an Orbital Suborbital Program long-range missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The OSP, a modified Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile, will carry a mock warhead and decoys. About 20 minutes after the target missile is launched, and about 4,800 miles away, a ground-based interceptor (GBI) carrying a prototype exoatmospheric kill...