Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission

SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, November 23 for Falcon 9’s launch of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window is at 10:21 p.m. PST (6:21 UTC on November 24), and a backup opportunity is available on Wednesday, November 24 at 10:20 p.m. PST (6:20 UTC on November 25).

This will be the third flight for this Falcon 9’s first stage booster, which previously supported launch of Sentinel-6A and a Starlink mission. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be located in the Pacific Ocean.

DART is humanity’s first planetary defense test mission to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should an Earth-threatening asteroid be discovered in the future.