In just a matter of days, California could set a new annual rocket launch record.
To date, 70 rockets have gotten off the ground from the Vandenberg Space Force Base – one shy of the record number of liftoffs conducted in 2025. That means not only will last year's record be easily surpassed in 2026, but the milestone mission will almost certainly happen in October.
As the schedule now stands, SpaceX is due to launch two Falcon 9 rockets in the week ahead from Vandenberg. The first, set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, will be the record-tying launch, while the second, set for Friday, Oct. 23, will make history in California.
California's record-setting rocket launch pace is in line with a larger spaceflight trend across the United States. During his second
term, President Donald Trump has made it a priority to pave the way for a surge in rocket launches as the need for launch-service providers grows.
Here's what to know as California is on the cusp of yet another annual rocket launch record.
California to break annual rocket launch record set in 2025
California is well on pace to not only surpass the 2025 record for rocket launches in one year, but to shatter it.
After Vandenberg reached its milestone 50th launch July 21 – about two months earlier than in 2025 – Space Force officials indicated to the USA TODAY Network that an estimated 80 or more rockets are expected to get off the ground before the end of 2026.
That'd be about 10 more than in 2025, when 71 launches were notched by the end of December.
On Oct. 15, SpaceX conducted the 70th and most recent launch at California's Vandenberg Space Force Base: a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force known as USSF-481.
SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch this week on record-breaking mission
Now, two rocket launches are on the schedule in the week ahead in California. Both are SpaceX missions using the company's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket to deliver batches of the company's Starlink internet satellites to low-Earth orbit.
The record-tying launch is set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, with a four-hour launch window opening at 3:14 p.m. PT. Then, SpaceX is working toward what would be the record-setting launch Friday, Oct. 23, with a launch window opening at 10:29 p.m. PT.
Both missions will get off the ground from Space Launch Complex 4-East (SLC-4E,) with a SpaceX planning to land the rocket's lower-stage booster on its drone ship, nicknamed Of Course I Still Love You, stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
What's next for Vandenberg Space Force Base?
Even more rocket launches are on the horizon in Southern California, where Vandenberg – managed by Space Launch Delta 30, a unit of Space Force – plans to expand with more launch complexes.
SpaceX, which leases Space Launch Complex 4-East for a regular diet of Falcon 9 launches, willsoon be taking over management of the refurbished Space Launch Complex-6 – a historic facility first used in 1966. The site is outfitted to accommodate SpaceX's larger Falcon Heavy rocket that has never launched from California.
Companies like Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, will also be moving into Vandenberg in the years ahead.
Blue Origin has plans to launch its towering 320-foot New Glenn rocket at the new Space Launch-14 at the southernmost point tip of the base. The ULA, meanwhile, is planning for the West Coast debut of its Vulcan rocket at Space Launch Complex-3 East, which – with four solid rocket boosters mounted to the side – puts on quite a show when it lifts off.
The Space Force also recently announced it is seeking applications from aerospace companies interested in leasing a new launch site, Space Launch Complex-9, located in the northern region of the base for small- and medium-class rockets.
Virginia-based Northrrop Grumman and Texas-based Firefly Aersopace, which announced Aug. 11 that it reached a deal with Lockheed Martin to continue launching its small-lift Alpha rocket through 2031, also have operations at Vandenberg.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: California to set new rocket launch record this week with SpaceX mission
