SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday night, April 6, after a Sunday attempt was canceled seconds before liftoff. The rocket lifted off just before 8 p.m., turning a delayed spaceflight into a successful spacex launch today.
SpaceX had scheduled the flight for 7:49 p.m. Monday, with a livestream set to begin about five minutes before liftoff. On Sunday night, April 5, the company had been aiming for a launch around 7:40 p.m. and later around 7:55 p.m., but the mission was postponed after SpaceX said on X that upper-level winds forced the delay.
The mission was meant to send 25 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, with the first stage expected to land on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean after separation. SpaceX then opened a new launch window for Monday from 4:03 p.m. to 8:03 p.m., giving the company room to try again after the weather setback.
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The weekend delay was the kind of small, last-second friction that can ripple through any launch schedule. SpaceX had been preparing for the Falcon 9 flight out of Vandenberg since Saturday, April 4, but the upper-level winds on Sunday night pushed the attempt back and forced a reset for the next day.
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Monday’s launch answered the question raised by the aborted first try: the rocket got off the pad, on time enough to stay within the evening window, and the mission moved forward as planned. For SpaceX, that meant the Starlink deployment could proceed after a night of uncertainty, and for the company’s launch cadence it meant the delay did not turn into a cancellation.
