It will lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Entrance to airport is off “O” street (cross street is W. Central Ave.) It will be the first launch to another planet from the West Coast. Be sure to check with the local beach to make sure it is open. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer.

The launch-viewing trips always leave from the center's visitor complex and are generally based at the Apollo Saturn V Center or the LC-39 Observation Gantry (which is located at Kennedy Space Center's launch site).

Plus, there may be associated parking and other fees. Launch audio will begin at 3:30 am. Tours from the visitor's complex will also often bring visitors near the launch pad ahead of time to get a close look at the rocket. Jalama Beach County Park is just forty five minutes south of some of the best space launch viewing sites near Vandenberg, and within an easy day’s drive of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
You can send images and comments on your launch experience in to Space.com in to managing editor Tariq Malik at: spacephotos@space.com. The first launch opportunity begins at May 27: SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 rocket to launch the Amos 17 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Don't plan a trip based on a firm launch date too far in advance, though — as we've already mentioned, launches can be rescheduled for many reasons.

"The closest you can get to is Atlas — it's even closer than at the Cape, because they keep the road open that runs right outside the gate…and the rocket pops up from behind the mountains. It is important to follow their guidance and instructions and obey all road and parking rules. For big launches, the site can fill up quickly, so you need to get there 2-3 hours ahead of time; for sounding rockets launching outside of the visitor center's normal hours, the center will open only a half hour beforehand.

Last summer, the Antares rocket returned to flight after an explosion in October 2014, and you can expect to see a few Antares launches this summer as well.

United Launch Alliance representatives said the launch was given a “unanimous go” on Friday after a Launch Readiness Review. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. There was a problem. The area is called America's Space Coast for good reason: it played host to all five of the space shuttles and launched the Saturn V rockets that brought Apollo astronauts to the moon.

Live coverage of the countdown will begin on the ULA website at 2:15 a.m. Saturday.

Check Space.com's calendar and Spaceflight Now's launch schedule for up-to-date information on when launches will happen, and keep an eye on NASA's and the rocket company's Twitter feeds for additional updates. This road is near the launch site but closes at some point as you near the base.

Only a few hundred people watch those launches from the center. This will be the Crew Dragon's first test flight with astronauts on board following the uncrewed Demo-1 mission in March.

Space.com talked with launch photographer Ben Cooper for the inside scoop on each of the three sites, and also talked with Andrea Farmer from Kennedy Space Center, Keith Koehler from Wallops and Jay Pritchard from Vandenberg. And if you do go see a rocket launch and snap an awesome photo, let us know.

Dense fog is common during InSight's launch period of May 5 through June 8, 2018.
It's the best nonticketed location for night launches.

It's the same thing with Falcon, Delta — wherever you go it will pop up behind the mountains. All of the center's sites offer live commentary and audio from mission control. A local’s favorite for years, word has started to get out about Jalama Beach, where sunsets and happy dogs are the norm. However, InSight will break the mold by launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. We have liftoff! So remember to check Spaceflight Now and our calendar for the most up-to-date information. The facility hosts six launch pads and currently acts as the launch site for Orbital ATK's Antares rocket. Vandenberg's website offers more specific directions. Launch viewing tickets are available for some — but not all — launches, depending on date and time of the launch.

A Virginia tourism site lists directions to this location and other potential viewing spots along with the distances away. One caveat is that clouds can ruin the view, even in Lompoc. Get directions ›. InSight is scheduled to launch in the pre-dawn hours, while it is still dark. You can also see launches of smaller, experiment-bearing sounding rockets. Contact Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at (855) 433-4210 for information on … It's a limited viewing area, and only a certain number of cars can park before it fills up, so it's necessary to get there early.

Launches are frequently rescheduled, and concrete dates are sometimes not picked until shortly before the launch. Years ago, I wrote a feature on Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex Six (SLC-6) very colorful, but not widely known past.It was built to launch … Most of the area around the facility is private, Cooper said — there are houses just a mile and a half (2.4 kilometers) away from the launch pad.