[Launch Alert] Vandeberg AFB Launch Schedule

[Launch Alert]

                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
                              Brian Webb
                     Ventura County, California
                  launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
                        www.spacearchive.info
		       
                             2017 February 16 (Thursday) 17:10 PST
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                   VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE

                     Launch
                   Time/Window
  Date              (PST/PDT)               Vehicle          Pad/Silo
--------        -----------------        -------------       --------

MAR 1           To be announced          Atlas V             SLC-3E
Vehicle will launch the classified NROL-79 payload for the U.S.
National Reconnaissance Office. Launch delayed due to problems with
the Atlas V second stage.  

TBD             To be announced          Falcon 9            SLC-4E
Vehicle will launch Taiwan's Formosat 5 satellite and the Sherpa
dispenser carrying several small payloads  

NET MAY         To be announced          Minotaur C          SLC-576E
Vehicle will launch six SkySat earth observation satellites  

JUN             To be announced          Falcon 9            SLC-4E
Vehicle will launch Iridium Next commercial communications satellites
11-20  

JUN 13          To be announced          Atlas V             SLC-3E
Vehicle will launch the classified NROL-42 payload for the U.S.
National Reconnaissance Office  

AUG             To be announced          Falcon 9            SLC-4E
Vehicle will launch Iridium Next commercial communications satellites
21-30  

SEP 23          To be announced          Delta II            SLC-2W
Vehicle will launch the JPSS-1 weather satellite  

The above schedule is a composite of unclassified information
approved for public release from government, industry, and other
sources. It represents the Editor's best effort to produce a schedule,
but may disagree with other sources. Details on military launches are
withheld until they are approved for public release. For official
information regarding Vandenberg AFB activities, go to
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil.

All launch dates and times are given in Pacific Time using a 24-hour
format similar to military time (midnight = 00:00, 1:00 p.m. = 13:00,
11:00 p.m. = 23:00, etc.). 

The dates and times in this schedule may not agree with those on other
online launch schedules, including the official Vandenberg AFB
schedule because different sources were used, the information was
interpreted differently, and the schedules were updated at different
times.

NET: No earlier than

TBD: To be determined

PDT: Pacific Daylight Time

PST: Pacific Standard Time

SLC: Space Launch Complex

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                           DAWN LIGHT SHOW
                            by Brian Webb

Observers over a wide area were treated to an interesting display at
dawn on Tuesday thanks to the unannounced launch of two U.S. Navy
Trident missiles.

The launches took place from an Ohio class submarine off the
California coast.

The following are observations of the launches and their aftermath:


Alexander A.
San Jose, CA

"Looks VAFB launched something few minutes ago. I noticed the contrail
from the car (from San Jose)"

"My wife and I were driving north on Hwy 85 out of San Jose, when
around 6:33am PST she noticed the contrail. We didn't see the launch
itself, just the characteristic twisted "cloud" that was left in the
sky to the southwest - my rough guess is that the launch happened
about 20 minutes earlier. By around 6:50am the contrail became
invisible."


Bill M.
Van Nuys, CA

"I was heading due west when I saw the cone shaped light directly in
front of me. I thought at first I was seeing a helicopter with spot
light and maybe affected by fog, but it seemed to be moving away from
me, and then I realized it was some sort of rocket. As I was making a
left turn it seemed to turn into a sphere with a central bright light
at the center, and then seemed to just disappear."


Casey H.
Bay Area, CA

"I follow your newsletter, and I was surprised this morning to see
what I thought was a launch of some sort, visible from the Bay area.
Shortly before sun rise, I saw a bright point of light with a plume
around it, southwest or west, close to the moon actually. It then
disappeared, and I thought maybe it was an odd anomaly from a plane.
Then as the sun rose, in the southwestern sky was what looked like an
exhaust plume, thin and long, that was being stretched and dispersed
by high level winds. No other contrails or clouds in the area."


Eli I.
Costa Mesa, CA

"What did I see in the sky this morning? 
It seemed as though it was launched from Vandenberg."


Rick B.
Campbell, CA

"Saw either a Minuteman launch or a Peacekeeper this morning.  (Or
possibly sub-launched?) Staged at about 6:19am. No announcement. 
Strange!

Was a good one.  Saw the staging, etc.  Perfect sunlight conditions -
nice exhaust plume in a dark sky! Wish I could have gotten a video of
it, but was driving. It went right under the Moon at 2nd stage cutoff
from my Campbell location."

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Copyright 2017, Brian Webb. All rights reserved. No portion of this
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