Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-136
SpaceX
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
No earlier than Nov 21, 2026, 7:30 AM ET
Launch Library gives this time to the minute.
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STATUS
Go for Launch. Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
MISSION
- Mission
- NROL-136
- Type
- Government/Top Secret
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Fifteenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities.
ROCKET AND PROVIDER
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- Provider
- SpaceX (commercial)
- On SpaceDew
- SpaceX
- Window
- Nov 21, 2026, 7:30 AM ET to Nov 21, 2026, 8:00 AM ET
SEEING IT
Where people watch from on Vandenberg, California, with the distance to Space Launch Complex 4E:
- 4 miSurf Beach (Amtrak station): the closest public spot; closed for some launches, no facilities
- 8 miHawk's Nest viewing area (Azalea Lane): high ground the base sometimes opens as its official site
- 10 miHarris Grade Road, the top: the farthest of these, with elevation when fog sits on the coast
- 11 miProvidence Landing Park, Vandenberg Village: a common gathering spot in town
- 5 miOcean Avenue (Highway 246) west of Lompoc: cars line the road toward the coast
From the pad to Lompoc 9 mi, Santa Maria 24 mi, Santa Barbara 54 mi, San Luis Obispo 45 mi, Los Angeles 141 mi, San Diego 238 mi.
A rule of thumb, not a promise: at night with clear skies a launch is a bright point climbing the sky for roughly 150 miles along the coast (Florida Today puts a Cape launch in view from Jacksonville to West Palm Beach); in daylight it is a plume you need to be much closer to see. Haze, cloud and the rocket's path all change it.
Closures and official viewing sites: Vandenberg Space Force Base. Sources: Explore Lompoc: best places to view a launch.
Source: Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs), record updated Nov 12, 2026, 2:21 PM ET. Times are US Eastern. Every launch SpaceDew tracks