NEWS

Nevadans might get a look at SpaceX rocket launching from Southern California this week

Portrait of Eric Lagatta Eric Lagatta
USA TODAY

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a Starlink satellite launch from Vandenberg, California, that could be visible in Reno.

Nevadans may catch an unusual sight within the next few days that looks like something between a cloud and a meteor. The white, oval-shaped formation in the sky is likely a SpaceX rocket launch from Southern California.

The launches and their leftover debris are sometimes seen in the Nevada skies, as they were this February.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has plans for at least two deliveries of Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman is under contract for a U.S. Space Force launch there later this month.

But it's important to keep in mind that rocket launches can be – and often are – scrubbed or delayed due to any number of factors, including poor weather conditions or unexpected issues with spacecraft.

Here's a look at the upcoming May 2025 launch schedule at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County:

One of the crew members aboard the International Space Station used a 180-mm lens to photograph this daytime image of Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada, from approximately 240 miles above Earth, on Jan. 20, 2013.

California rocket launch: SpaceX Starlink satellites

  • Mission: SpaceX will potentially launch a Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to deploy Starlink broadband satellites.
  • Launch window: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. PT Friday, May 9, 2025. A second launch is planned for later in the month, with a date TBD
  • Rocket launch location: Space Launch Complex 4E from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Vandeberg, California

California rocket launch: Northrop Grumman Space Systems

  • Mission: Northrop Grumman will launch a prototype weather satellite for the United States Space Force on its Minotaur IV rocket. The satellite, known as the Electro-Optical/Infrared Weather System (EWS), is due to remain in low-Earth orbit for about three years.
  • Launch window: To be announced
  • Rocket launch location: Space Launch Complex 8 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Vandenberg, California

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com. Carly Sauvageau contributed to this report.