Vandenberg 2019 Overview

The launchpads have been… pretty silent lately. Since the launch of NROL-71, there has been little, if any activity here. And, for now, it seems the inactivity is here to stay.

The next confirmed launch will be no earlier than May 16, which is closer than it seems. That is the RADARSAT mission, flying on a Falcon 9. RADARSAT was originally slated to fly in March, however, its planned core sort of crash landed in the CRS-16 mission. As such, the mission had to obviously be delayed.

While this is currently the only scheduled launch for the next three months, a lot of work is ongoing behind the scenes. Firefly is currently rebuilding the former Delta II pad, SLC-2W, for its Alpha launch vehicle. Firefly claims a first launch by November 30, however, as all space things go, don’t expect that date to stick.

Other than these two launches, not much else will be ongoing. There may be some extra Minuteman III tests, but those are not entirely predictable. The site will be updated when more news comes out, but it seems for now, this year won’t have much action.

Here’s hoping 2020 will be a little more promising.