Third Time a Charm? SpaceX Will Try Launching NROL-85 on Easter Sunday From Windy Vandy

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

I recently spent a week housesitting down in LA where the temperatures reached into the 90’s. When I arrived back home to Mojave on Monday night, I found that spring had turned back into winter in the High Desert: overnight temps a few degrees above freezing, 50 mph wind gusts, chilly temperatures during the day. Although the temperatures have risen over the last few days, the wind has been pretty relentless all week.

So, it’s little wonder they’re having the same issues with wind over at Vandenberg Space Force Base to the west of here. The winds forced SpaceX to twice scrub the launch of the NROL-85 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office on Friday and Saturday.

Elon Musk’s company is set to try again on Easter Sunday. Falcon 9 has an instantaneous launch window at 6:13 a.m. PDT from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E).

If I’m awake, I’ll go outside and see if I can see the launch. Although nighttime launches are spectacular out here, they’re more difficult to see in daylight. It will probably be a distant contrail at best.

For everyone else, you can watch the live launch webcast starting about 15 minutes before liftoff. 

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched the NROL-87 mission in February 2022. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return and land on Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.