Launch index
Launch Successful

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission

January 11, 2026 at 1:44 PM UTC

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission launch image
Mission imagery · Falcon 9 Block 5

Launch details

LAUNCH IN

T−00d00h00m00s

January 11, 2026 at 1:44 PM UTC

Status: Launch Successful · Live feed refreshes every 30 seconds

Space Launch Complex 4E

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA · 34.6320, -120.6110

Open map
Launch site
Space Launch Complex 4E

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Launch probability
Not published
Window opens
January 11, 2026 at 1:19 PM UTC
Window closes
January 11, 2026 at 2:16 PM UTC
Feed updated
January 11, 2026 at 7:30 PM UTC

Mission description

The Pandora small satellite was selected in 2021 as an inaugural mission in NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program. It includes a 0.45-meter telescope that will improve our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres by disentangling exoplanet signals from their host stars, as well as studying host star variability with long-duration observations of 20 unique planets through visible-light photometry and near-infrared spectroscopy. Also launching on this launch are 39 other ride-share payloads under the "Falcon 9 Twilight mission" manifested by Exolaunch, including satellites from Spire Global and Kepler Communications.

Mission media

Watch the launch.

SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Twilight (Pandora & Others) - SLC-4E - Vandenberg SFB - January 11, 2026

Full video record
Vehicle

Falcon 9 Block 5

Falcon · Block 5

Height

70 m

Diameter

3.65 m

LEO capacity

22,800 kg

Successful launches

624

Launch complex

Space Launch Complex 4E

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Vandenberg Space Force Base is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.

Open map

Official links

Mission updates

All payloads deployed, launch successful.

January 11, 2026 at 4:21 PM UTC · hitura-nobad

Liftoff

January 11, 2026 at 1:45 PM UTC · hitura-nobad

Unofficial Re-stream by SPACE AFFAIRS has started

January 11, 2026 at 1:25 PM UTC · LL2

Tweaked T-0.

January 11, 2026 at 4:55 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin

Now targeting Jan 11 at 13:44 UTC

January 11, 2026 at 4:03 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin