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VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. — An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile failed early Wednesday morning due to an anomaly during a test launch. According to the Air Force Global Strike Command, the unarmed Minuteman III missile was "safely terminated" by Space Launch Delta 30, during its test launch at approximately 12:01 a.m.

The following is an update from SpaceX: "SpaceX is targeting Friday, August 18 at 12:30 a.m. PT (7:30 UTC) for a Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Weather permitting, this event could be visible to the unaided eye for hundreds of miles. Observers in dark locations may be able to see the rocket's tenuous exhaust plume. Rather than being visible due to being illuminated by sunlight at high altitude, the plume may be visible because it is generating its own light.

The Starlink satellites are scheduled to lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight at 7:56 p.m. EDT (2356 GMT; 4:56 p.m. local California time). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company(opens in new tab). It will be the fifth liftoff and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description(opens in new tab). The rocket previously helped launch the NROL-85 and NROL-87 missions for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the Sarah-1 radar satellite for the German government, and another Starlink batch. While...

Vandenberg Air Force Base is getting a new name. A ceremony on Friday will redesignate the base near Lompoc and the 30th Space Wing as Vandenberg Space Force Base and Space Launch Delta 30, under Space Operations Command, United States Space Force, according to base officials. The new organization will allow squadron commanders to report directly to the SLD 30 commander, which the base says will create more efficiency. Signs with the bases updated name were installed Saturday but are currently covered up.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A test launch of an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile Minuteman III failed and the cause is unknown and being investigated, the US Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) said on Wednesday. "An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, experienced a ground abort prior to launch. The cause of the ground abort is currently under investigation, and Air Force Global Strike Command is assessing the potential to reschedule the launch", AFGSC said in a press release. The three-stage land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles of the Minuteman family were originally intended for...

Missiles shot from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base successfully destroyed an airborne target Monday (March 25) as part of a U.S. missile defense test... The target was an intercontinental ballistic missile launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, about 4,000 miles (6,440 kilometers) from Vandenberg. During the test, sensors in space, on the ground and at sea helped guide two ground-based interceptors (GBI) fired from Vandenberg. The first interceptor destroyed the target, a re-entry vehicle, while the second one searched the remaining debris for other threatening objects. Since there were no...

The NROL-71 spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on Saturday (Jan. 19) at 2:05 p.m. EST (1905 GMT; 11:05 a.m. local California time), ULA representatives announced yesterday (Jan. 15). ULA had originally targeted early December for NROL-71's liftoff, but bad weather and technical issues pushed the launch back multiple times. The most recent attempt, on Dec. 19, was nixed because of a slight hydrogen leak on the Delta IV Heavy — an issue that has taken several weeks to resolve. NROL-71 will be operated by...

The launch of a Delta IV Heavy rocket that had been postponed twice from Vandenberg Air Force Base last week is now slated for Tuesday, Dec. 18. The launch is scheduled for a window that will open at 5:57 p.m. from VAFB’s Space Launch Complex-6. The rocket, provided by United Launch Alliance, will carry a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office in a mission dubbed NROL-71.

Small flames could be seen igniting at the base of the engines before they quickly disappeared The rocket remained still. With favorable weather conditions, Saturday’s launch was originally slated for 8:06 p.m., but a brief stop in the countdown to troubleshoot a problem pushed the liftoff back to 8:15 p.m., the company said. All systems were “go” until the countdown was halted just seven second before liftoff after a problem was detected, ULA said. The attempt was cancelled for the night, but it was not clear when ULA will try again. ULA is working in conjunction with the Air Force’s...

Tonight, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to launch its most powerful rocket — the Delta IV Heavy — sending up a secret spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from California. The mission will be the 132nd mission for the ULA, and the latest of many launches the company has done for the NRO, a significant customer of the launch provider. NRO keeps the purposes of its missions under wraps. However, the satellite is likely pretty heavy and is perhaps going to a high orbit if it requires the power of the Delta IV Heavy. The rocket...

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Friday, Dec. 7. [2018] The rocket will carry a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The launch window opens at 8:19 p.m. It will be streamed live on the United Launch Alliance website.

Launch Schedule from the website. Note that a heavy is scheduled for Dec 7. DEC 3 10:31:47 -11:01 Falcon 9 SLC-4E Vehicle will launch several satellites as part of the SSO-A mission. The Falcon will probably fly a north-to-south trajectory. If the sky is clear, the bright orange flame from the rocket's first stage may be visible to the unaided eye as far away as King City, Delano, Simi Valley, and coastal Los Angeles County. DEC 7 Unknown Delta IV Heavy SLC-6 Vehicle will launch the NROL-71 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office DEC 30 08:38 Falcon 9 SLC-4E...

SpaceX has made history by having the first stages of its Falcon 9 rockets conduct controlled landings. One of the side effects of those landings has been triple sonic booms – something the U.S. Air Force noted in a statement issued on Tuesday. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the SAOCOM 1A and ITASAT 1 satellites are scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex-4E on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 7:21 p.m. PDT, a 24 hour slip from the previous launch date. SpaceX noted the change in the schedule in a Twitter post which stated the following: Now targeting October 7...

Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with NASA’s InSight lander heading to Mars. The two-stage rocket was assembled in three pieces, beginning with the stacking of the Atlas 5’s first stage booster March 3 at Space Launch Complex 3-East. The first stage’s RD-180 main engine will burn a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen to send the InSight spacecraft out of the Earth’s atmosphere during the first four minutes of the flight. The Atlas 5’s Centaur...

Did anyone see that launch. I was about 80 miles out and it was the strangest launch I've ever seen at a distance. On the west coast you can still see the initial trails even though it's dark here. Multiple shock waves and explosions were seen as if they were detonating it yet the main stage seem to go off out into the Pacific. One piece or stage was seen coming down almost to sea level from a distance.

In a break from its now-standard practice, SpaceX will not attempt a landing of the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on its next launch this week, the company confirmed Dec. 19. A SpaceX spokesperson said that the company is not planning to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 that is launching a fourth set of 10 Iridium Next satellites Dec. 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The company carried a successful static fire test of the booster at the pad Dec. 17. SpaceX offered few details about the decision not to land the booster. "These are...

It’s not often that one can point to a last-minute (from the public side) addition of a mission to a launch manifest – let alone one that manages to stay secret until 30 days before the opening of its launch campaign. But that is the case for a mystery Falcon 9 mission that is now set to launch between Koreasat-5A and CRS-13/Dragon. The mystery mission, codename Zuma, is known on its FCC launch license as Mission 1390 and will see a Falcon 9 rocket launch from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center before performing a RTLS (Return To Launch Site)...

If all goes well this will be the second launch for SpaceX this week following Monday’s Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg AFB, Ca carrying 10 Iridium-NEXT satellites to orbit – and a record setting 15th of 2017! EchoStar 105/SES-11 is a high-powered hybrid Ku and C-band communications satellite launching as a dual-mission satellite for US-based operator EchoStar and Luxembourg-based operator SES. The used two stage 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket was rolled out to pad 39A today, erected to vertical launch position and is now poised for liftoff Wednesday. It will launch the two and a half ton EchoStar 105/SES-11...

The Minuteman III launch by U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command is scheduled to take place between midnight and 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from Vandenberg. ... Vandenberg has done several Minuteman test launches in the past, the latest coming on April 26 and May 3. Those two missiles traveled about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands. The Minuteman III ICBM launch is designed to “validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system.”

Washington (CNN)The Pentagon on Tuesday will for the first time test its ability to shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile using its own upgraded long-range interceptor missile in what is being widely seen as a test of US ability to counter a North Korean missile launch. The test, which will take place in the skies over the Pacific Ocean, comes just two days after Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile that traveled an estimated 248 miles, splashing down within Japan's exclusive economic zone. In a Monday tweet, President Donald Trump joined the leaders of South Korea and Japan in condemning...