Launch Date: January 11, 2026 (PST)
Launch Time: 5:44 a.m. PST, 1344 UTC, 14:44 CET
Launch Window: Open until 6:16 a.m. PST
Launch Site: SLC-4E – Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Targeted Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Launch Inclination: South
Status: Nominal orbits, all payloads have been deployed in different orbits.
Mission: Twilight (Pandora & Others)
Launch Provider: SpaceX
Launcher System: Falcon 9 (Booster 1097 – Turnaround time 38 days)
Operator of the Mission: NASA and others
Flight for the Booster: 5
Previous Flights of the Booster: 4 – Sentinel-6B and three Starlink missions
Booster landing: LZ-4 (Landing Zone 4) – Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA
Price: $69,75 million (without payload)
Diameter: 3,7 m
Height: 70 meters
Payload to Orbit: 22,800 LEO / 8,300 GTO
Lift-Off Thrust: 7,607 kilonewtons
Fairing: Diameter 5,2 meters / Height 13 meters
Stages: 2
SpaceX is targeting a Falcon 9 launch of the Twilight Mission (NASA’s Pandora & Others) to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 5:09 a.m. PST, 1309 UTC, 14:09 CET.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Pandora is a small satellite that was selected as part of NASA’s inaugural call for Pioneer mission concepts in 2021. It’s designed to study the atmospheres of exoplanets, or worlds beyond our solar system, and the activity of their host stars with long-duration multiwavelength observations. The project is a collaboration between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, NASA’s Ames Research Center, and a host of other institutions.
Pandora will study planets discovered by other missions using transits, events where planets passing in front of their stars cause tiny dips in starlight. Scientists are interested in further observing these worlds because transits can also reveal information about the planet’s atmosphere.
As the planet passes in front of its star, light passes through the planet’s atmosphere. By comparing the transit spectrum to the spectrum of the star’s light by itself, astronomers can tease out the signatures of elements and compounds present in the planet’s atmosphere. Pandora will be seeking out planets with atmospheres dominated by hydrogen or water.
However, this process depends on the star itself. If the star has regions that are particularly dark or bright, much like sunspot groups or plages seen on our own Sun, they can cause the star’s spectrum to vary over time in ways that can mimic or suppress features in the planet’s spectrum.
Pandora aims to disentangle the star and planet spectra by monitoring the brightness of the exoplanet’s host star in visible light while simultaneously collecting infrared data. Together, these multiwavelength observations will provide constraints on the star’s spot coverage to separate the star’s spectrum from the planet’s.
Residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what they experience will depend on weather and other conditions.
You will find more information about the trajectory and data on the day of the launch here: https://flightclub.io/live
Countdown
Hr/Min/Sec Event
00:38:00 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
00:35:00 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
00:35:00 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
00:16:00 2nd stage LOX loading begins
00:07:00 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
00:01:00 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
00:01:00 Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
00:00:45 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
00:00:03 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff
Credit to : SPACE AFFAIRS