SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch on NASA satellite mission: Will it be visible in Arizona sky?
Instead, aboard the spacecraft will be twin NASA satellites that will orbit Earth in tandem while studying how the sun's powerful activity can disrupt our planet's magnetosphere.
But that information may not matter much to those on the ground who just want to see a rocket thundering high overhead after getting off the ground.
Visibility for those in Arizona may be tough: The next launch from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, is scheduled for the daylight hours – making the Falcon 9 much more unlikely to be visible as it soars upward.
What's more, 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. Check back with azcentral.com for any updates on the rocket launch.
In the meantime, here's what to know about the launch from Southern California, as well as when and where to potentially spot the rocket in neighboring Arizona:
California rocket launches: SpaceX rocket launches have increased in California, and not all residents are happy
What time is the SpaceX rocket launch from California?
A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory indicates the launch is being targeted for Tuesday, July 22, with backup opportunities available the following day, if needed.
The launch window opens at 11:13 a.m. PT, according to NASA.
The Vandenberg Space Force Base has not yet provided an official launch alert.
Where is the next rocket launch from California?
The launch will take place from Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Most launches from Vandenberg fly at a south or southeast trajectory.
What is the next mission launching from Vandenberg?
SpaceX will serve as the launch service provider for a NASA mission to launch twin satellites to study solar activity's effects on Earth. The TRACERS mission (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) will make use of the company's famous two-stage 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world's most active, to get the satellites into orbit, where they will observe observe how solar wind interact with Earth's magnetosphere.
How to watch SpaceX Starlink launch livestream
SpaceX may provide a webcast of the Starlink launch close to liftoff time on its website, along with updates on social media site X. The company often retweets posts by its founder, Elon Musk.
California rocket launch could be visible in Arizona: Where to watch
Because of Arizona's proximity to the launch site, there's a good chance people there can see the spacecraft streak across the sky, especially at night or very early morning.
Here's a list of some possible viewing locations compiled by The Arizona Republic, a USA TODAY Network publication.
Dobbins Lookout, South Mountain, 10919 S. Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona
Papago Park, 625 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, Arizona
Fountain Hills, a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, which in 2018 was designated a Dark Sky Community with little light pollution
Superstition Mountains, located 40 miles from metro Phoenix in Arizona
Cave Creek, a town in Maricopa County about 30 miles north of Fountain Hills, Arizona
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 3400 Sky Harbor Blvd., Arizona, which has a parking garage that is popular for plane-watching
Black Canyon City, an unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona
Any mountain park in Arizona
, 14805 W. Vineyard Ave., Goodyear, Arizona
, 2600 N. Watson Road, Buckeye, Arizona
, 20304 W. White Tank Mountain Road, Waddell, Arizona
, 6533 W. Phillips Road, Queen Creek, Arizona
Monument Hill, a 150-foot slope on 115th Avenue, in Arizona
What is SpaceX?
Elon Musk, the world's richest man, founded SpaceX in 2002.
The commercial spaceflight company is headquartered at Starbase in South Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. The site, which is where SpaceX has been conducting routine flight tests of its 400-foot megarocket known as Starship, was recently voted by residents to become its own city.
SpaceX conducts many of its own rocket launches, most using the Falcon 9 rocket, from both California and Florida. That includes a regular cadence of deliveries of Starlink internet satellites into orbit, and occasional privately-funded commercial crewed missions on the Dragon.
The most recent of SpaceX's private human spaceflights, a mission known as Fram2, took place in April. SpaceX was also famously involved in funding and operating the headline-grabbing Polaris Dawn crewed commercial mission in September 2024.
SpaceX additionally benefits from billions of dollars in contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense by providing launch services for classified satellites and other payloads.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: SpaceX rocket launch, NASA mission: Will people in Arizona see liftoff
Solve the daily Crossword

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump pauses export controls to bolster China trade deal, FT says
(Reuters) -The U.S. has paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support President Donald Trump's efforts to secure a meeting with President Xi Jinping this year, the Financial Times said on Monday. The industry and security bureau of the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has been told in recent months to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside business hours. Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials are set to resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies. Tech giant Nvidia said this month it would resume sales of its H20 graphics processing units (GPU) to China, reversing an export curb the Trump administration imposed in April to keep advanced AI chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns. The planned resumption was part of U.S. negotiations on rare earths and magnets, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said. The paper said 20 security experts and former officials, including former deputy US national security adviser Matt Pottinger, will write on Monday to Lutnick to voice concern, however. "This move represents a strategic misstep that endangers the United States' economic and military edge in artificial intelligence," they write in the letter, it added. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


Medscape
24 minutes ago
- Medscape
Claims Data Fail to Accurately Identify MI Types
TOPLINE: Clinical auditing reveals significant misclassification in administrative codes for myocardial infarction (MI), with only 39% of type 1 (T1MI) codes and 72% of type 2 (T2MI) codes for the condition accurately reflecting the true diagnosis, researchers found. Nearly half of patients coded for T1MI had T2MI, whereas 26% of T2MI codes represented myocardial injury. METHODOLOGY: Researchers identified 350 randomly sampled patients with T1MI codes and 350 patients with T2MI codes during inpatient encounters using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems-10th Revision. The analysis included patients aged 65 years and older from October 1, 2017, to May 9, 2024, within eight hospitals in the Mass General Brigham system. Using the 4th Universal Definition of MI, the researchers reviewed the clinical encounters to assess evidence of plaque erosion or thrombus vs oxygen demand-supply imbalance. A second physician review was conducted for 146 challenging and 146 nonchallenging cases. TAKEAWAY: Among the 350 patients coded as having had T1MI, clinical adjudication revealed 138 (39%) as correctly diagnosed; 159 (45%) in fact had T2MI, and 35 (10%) had myocardial injury. Of the 350 patients coded as having had T2MI, 251 (72%) were confirmed, four (1%) were found to have T1MI, and 91 (26%) had myocardial injury. A second physician review demonstrated a high degree of agreement with the initial review, with a 94% agreement in nonchallenging cases and 86% in challenging cases. Hospitals equipped with vs without cardiac catheterization laboratories showed significantly lower misclassification rates (43% vs 58%; P = .0298). IN PRACTICE: 'Among individuals assigned a T1MI claims code, nearly one half have T2MI and many others have myocardial injury; fewer than one half have true T1MI,' the researchers reported. 'Our results also confirm and extend previous work showing that among those with T2MI codes, slightly more than one half have true T2MI, with most of the misclassification related to myocardial injury rather than T1MI. This has critically important implications for epidemiology and public policy' related to acute myocardial infarction. SOURCE: The study was led by Andrea Martinez, MD, of the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. It was published online on July 21 in Journal of the American College of Cardiology. LIMITATIONS: The results may not be generalized to other hospital systems and countries, where patterns of misclassification might differ. The researchers noted external validity assessment across multiple healthcare systems and in countries that have already introduced International Classification of Diseases-11th revision coding would be beneficial. While patterns of misclassification might have changed over time, the analysis was intentionally restricted to the period when codes for both T1MI and T2MI were available. DISCLOSURES: The study received support through a grant to Jason Wasfy from the Massachusetts General Hospital Executive Committee on Research. Individual authors reported receiving other grants and support, including grants from industry. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.


Digital Trends
24 minutes ago
- Digital Trends
Remember Ingenuity? NASA's proposed Skyfall mission takes it further in stunning video
NASA's incredible Ingenuity helicopter spent nearly three flying across the surface of Mars, becoming the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on a planet other than Earth. After suffering damage to one of its blades in early 2024, Ingenuity was grounded for good, and now rests on the martian surface as a testament to technological innovation and the triumph of autonomous flight on another planet. In an exciting development, the plucky helicopter has now inspired Skyfall, a mission concept recently unveiled by Virginia-based AeroVironment (AV) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who worked together to develop the Ingenuity aircraft. As you can see in the video at the top of this page, the Skyfall mission is designed to deploy not one but six helicopters on Mars, each of which would fly off to explore various locations selected by NASA as potential landing spots for the first crewed mission to the red planet, which could take place in the 2030s. The gathered data could also help scientists learn more about Mars, contributing to the expanding database of information collected by other Mars vehicles such as the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers. The video shows the dramatic Skyfall Maneuver, described by AV as 'an innovative entry, descent, and landing technique whereby the six rotorcraft deploy from their entry capsule during its descent through the martian atmosphere.' With the helicopters flying down to the Mars surface under their own power, the Skyfall system would do away with the need for a landing platform, which is one of the most expensive parts of any Mars mission and also carries huge risk. Just like Ingenuity, each helicopter would be capable of operating autonomously, and beam high-resolution imagery back to Earth for analysis, allowing mission planners to select the best possible landing location for the first human mission. 'Skyfall offers a revolutionary new approach to Mars exploration that is faster and more affordable than anything that's come before it,' said William Pomerantz, head of space ventures at AV. 'Thanks to a true partnership between industry and government, we're expanding the unprecedented success of Ingenuity.' Pomerantz added that with six helicopters, 'Skyfall offers a low-cost solution that multiplies the range we would cover, the data we would collect, and the scientific research we would conduct, making humanity's first footprints on Mars meaningfully closer.' With NASA's first human missions in mind and the need to identify an ideal landing area, AV is already working with NASA's JPL in the hope of getting the green light for the mission before working toward a potential 2028 launch.