A pair of completely different missions may occur hours apart from Vandenberg Space Force Base this week. 

The first, an unarmed Minutemen III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch, is set to blast out of an underground silo on North Base between 11:01 p.m. Tuesday and 5:01 a.m. Wednesday. 

Upon liftoff, a mock re-entry vehicle will be tracked to a predetermined target in the central Pacific Ocean near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands about 4,200 miles away from Vandenberg.

Vandenberg in Santa Barbara County conducts test launches of the Minuteman missile three to four times a year to collect information about the weapon system’s accuracy and reliability, according to the Air Force.

Test launches are scheduled years ahead of time with preparations for a specific mission starting months beforehand. 

Minuteman III test launches are not related to any real world incident taking place such as the attacks in the Middle East. 

The Air Force has approximately 400 Minuteman III missiles on alert around Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana; Minot AFB, North Dakota and F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming.

Hours later, SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket between 1 and 5 p.m. Wednesday from Space Launch Complex-4 

The rocket will carry the next set of 25 Starlink satellites into orbit. 

After finishing its chores, the first-stage booster’s landing is set to take place on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean. 

A SpaceX livestream of Falcon’s countdown and liftoff will be available about five minutes before departure on www.spacex.com or via @spacex on X (formerly Twitter),

Additional Starlink missions from Vandenberg are planned between 3:58 a.m. and 7:58 a.m. Sunday and between 7:37 to 11:37 p.m. March 11.

Meanwhile, the Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket’s seventh launch, once planned for last weekend, has not been rescheduled yet. The team encountered delays over the weekend due to upper-level winds exceeding the limits for the launch to safely occur.