SpaceX launch at Vandenberg SFB will not include countdown livestream | Local News

For the second consecutive West Coast launch, SpaceX will not provide a live stream of the countdown and launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base early Saturday morning.

According to SpaceX, the launch from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base is scheduled to open at 12:10 a.m. after four hours.

If necessary, there is an additional start option on the same day. The four-hour launch window opens at 11:54 p.m. Saturday and runs through Sunday morning.

According to SpaceX, this mission will use a first stage booster making its maiden flight.

Once its work is complete, the first stage booster, the bottom two-thirds of the rocket, will land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship positioned in the Pacific Ocean.

According to SpaceX, the rocket will carry a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office as well as 20 Starlink satellites.

Called NROL-126, it will be the fifth launch of NRO’s “proliferative architecture,” or a new method in which multiple small satellites are launched instead of one large one.

As with the Starlink mission last weekend, SpaceX did not provide the planned launch time, only a vague time window for launch this weekend.

Additionally, SpaceX will not provide a webcast of the countdown for the second year in a row, but has not explained why it will not be available.

These abrupt changes to launch times and a livestream appear to affect only Vandenberg launches, not Falcon 9 flights from Florida, which took place last week with webcasts and specific launch times.

Officials kept quiet about the reason for the changes. However, some have suggested that the reason could be related to a national security issue.

The added secrecy makes it difficult to see for potential spectators and photographers wanting to capture the departure.

A live stream for the Nov. 23 launch from Vandenberg began about a minute after the rocket left the base. It’s not clear whether SpaceX has similar plans for Saturday’s launch.

While details of the NRO payload remain top secret, SpaceX said deployment of the Starlink satellite will begin approximately an hour after launch.

SpaceX is reportedly planning another launch from Vandenberg next week.