SpaceX has gone from a handful of launches per year to just under 100 launches in 2023. They plan to have well over that this year, with even more next year. While most of those launches are out of Florida where they have a couple of launch pads and two landing zones and two drone ships for recovery of the first stages, the launch cadence out of Vanednberg up the coast from us is going up as well.
Last year there were 28 launches out of Vandenberg by my count. For 2024 there are plans to have 50+, or basically one a week. Unless it’s cloudy (which happens, and they’ll launch anyway in many of those cases) I can easily see any night launch. The daytime launches are a little tougher to see from this far away.
The problem is that the times will change as launch windows come and go. With the Starlink launches there are generally multiple launch windows in a day, so if something isn’t quite right (the vehicle, the weather at the launch site, the weather at the landing site, etc) they can wait an hour or so and then try again.
Yesterday the first launch opportunity was just after sunset and would have given a spectacular “jellyfish” effect as the exhaust plume high up in the atmosphere was illuminated by the Sun far over the horizon while we were all watching from darkness. Unfortunately, that window got passed up.
The good news is that the launch went off about three hours later, and it was magnificent to watch.
The bad news was that I had to lug the tripod & camera gear back up the hill from the “good” viewing spot about halfway down. That location lets me have a much more clear view of the western horizon, without the palm trees across the street from our house being in the way. On the other hand, I did get to see a great sunset!
There will be a lot more opportunities this year to get a sunset jellyfish launch. I’ll be ready!
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 