Falcon Heavy | Griffin Mission One — visibility, launch time & where to look

Demonstration flight of the Astrobotic Griffin lander and its engines, initially contracted for the cancelled NASA VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission. The vacated payload spot will now host the FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) lunar rover from Astrolab.

Rocket: Falcon Heavy
Provider: SpaceX
Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Status: To Be Determined

Launch time

Dec 31, 2026, 12:00 AM UTC
Dec 30, 2026, 7:00 PM Eastern
Dec 30, 2026, 4:00 PM Pacific

This launch time is not yet confirmed. Rocket launches often slip by hours or days for weather, technical checks, or range scheduling — treat the time above as a target and re-check close to the date.

Which cities can see this launch?

Estimated visibility from major towns near US launch sites, assuming clear skies and an open horizon:

City	Visibility	Look toward	Distance to pad
Titusville, FL	Excellent	east	12 mi
Port Canaveral, FL	Excellent	north	14 mi
Mims, FL	Excellent	east-southeast	15 mi
Merritt Island, FL	Excellent	north-northeast	18 mi
Cocoa Beach, FL	Excellent	north	20 mi
Rockledge, FL	Excellent	north-northeast	20 mi
Satellite Beach, FL	Excellent	north	30 mi
New Smyrna Beach, FL	Excellent	southeast	35 mi
Indialantic, FL	Excellent	north	36 mi
Melbourne, FL	Excellent	north	36 mi
Palm Bay, FL	Excellent	north	40 mi
Sanford, FL	Excellent	east-southeast	42 mi
Orlando, FL	Excellent	east	47 mi
Daytona Beach, FL	Excellent	south-southeast	49 mi
Kissimmee, FL	Excellent	east-northeast	54 mi
Sebastian, FL	Excellent	north	55 mi
Vero Beach, FL	Excellent	north	68 mi
Palm Coast, FL	Excellent	south-southeast	76 mi
Fort Pierce, FL	Excellent	north-northwest	82 mi
Lakeland, FL	Excellent	east-northeast	91 mi
Port St. Lucie, FL	Excellent	north	94 mi
St. Augustine, FL	Excellent	south-southeast	99 mi
Tampa, FL	Excellent	east-northeast	122 mi
Gainesville, FL	Excellent	southeast	126 mi
Jacksonville, FL	Excellent	south-southeast	135 mi
West Palm Beach, FL	Excellent	north-northwest	135 mi
Fort Lauderdale, FL	Excellent	north	174 mi
Brunswick, GA	Good	south-southeast	183 mi
Miami, FL	Excellent	north	198 mi
Valdosta, GA	Excellent	southeast	222 mi
Savannah, GA	Good	south	242 mi
Hilton Head Island, SC	Good	south	250 mi
Tallahassee, FL	Good	east-southeast	255 mi
Charleston, SC	Good	south	291 mi
Myrtle Beach, SC	Good	south-southwest	365 mi
Pensacola Beach, FL	Fair	east-southeast	411 mi
Gulf Shores, AL	Fair	east	442 mi
Norfolk, VA	Good	south-southwest	622 mi
Virginia Beach, VA	Good	south-southwest	629 mi
Newport News, VA	Good	south-southwest	633 mi
Richmond, VA	Good	south-southwest	644 mi
Cape Charles, VA	Good	south-southwest	655 mi
Exmore, VA	Good	south-southwest	676 mi
Onancock, VA	Good	south-southwest	688 mi
Wallops Island, VA	Good	south-southwest	706 mi
Chincoteague, VA	Good	south-southwest	711 mi
Pocomoke City, MD	Good	south-southwest	715 mi
Salisbury, MD	Good	south-southwest	733 mi
Berlin, MD	Good	south-southwest	739 mi
Washington, DC	Fair	south-southwest	740 mi
Ocean City, MD	Good	south-southwest	744 mi
Annapolis, MD	Fair	south-southwest	754 mi
Rehoboth Beach, DE	Good	south-southwest	767 mi
Baltimore, MD	Fair	south-southwest	773 mi
Cape May, NJ	Good	south-southwest	785 mi
Dover, DE	Good	south-southwest	785 mi
Ocean City, NJ	Good	south-southwest	814 mi
Philadelphia, PA	Fair	south-southwest	842 mi
Grand Isle, LA	Not visible	—	570 mi
Rockport, TX	Not visible	—	1000 mi
Port Aransas, TX	Not visible	—	1003 mi
Corpus Christi, TX	Not visible	—	1023 mi
South Padre Island, TX	Not visible	—	1030 mi
Port Isabel, TX	Not visible	—	1033 mi
Laguna Vista, TX	Not visible	—	1038 mi
Bayview, TX	Not visible	—	1044 mi
Los Fresnos, TX	Not visible	—	1050 mi
Brownsville, TX	Not visible	—	1054 mi
Harlingen, TX	Not visible	—	1061 mi
McAllen, TX	Not visible	—	1093 mi
Laredo, TX	Not visible	—	1154 mi
San Diego, CA	Not visible	—	2180 mi
Pasadena, CA	Not visible	—	2234 mi
Mojave, CA	Not visible	—	2236 mi
Long Beach, CA	Not visible	—	2238 mi
Los Angeles, CA	Not visible	—	2240 mi
Malibu, CA	Not visible	—	2266 mi
Thousand Oaks, CA	Not visible	—	2274 mi
Bakersfield, CA	Not visible	—	2284 mi
Oxnard, CA	Not visible	—	2294 mi
Ventura, CA	Not visible	—	2300 mi
Santa Barbara, CA	Not visible	—	2323 mi
Fresno, CA	Not visible	—	2329 mi
Solvang, CA	Not visible	—	2348 mi
Buellton, CA	Not visible	—	2351 mi
Los Alamos, CA	Not visible	—	2355 mi
Santa Maria, CA	Not visible	—	2364 mi
Orcutt, CA	Not visible	—	2365 mi
Lompoc, CA	Not visible	—	2366 mi
Vandenberg Village, CA	Not visible	—	2367 mi
Guadalupe, CA	Not visible	—	2372 mi
Pismo Beach, CA	Not visible	—	2376 mi
San Luis Obispo, CA	Not visible	—	2377 mi
San Jose, CA	Not visible	—	2447 mi

Where to look

A rocket lifts off below the horizon for distant viewers, then climbs into view as it gains altitude and flies downrange. Closer to the pad you'll see it within seconds; a few hundred miles away it can take three to six minutes to rise over the horizon. Find an open view in the direction shown for your city and start watching at liftoff.

Before you go

Launch times change — scrubs and delays are common. Re-check the day of.
Clear skies matter. Low cloud near the pad or along the trajectory can hide the rocket.
Twilight launches are the most dramatic; daytime launches are the hardest to see at distance.
Trajectory and timing here are estimates from a representative ascent profile.

More upcoming launches

Launch data from TheSpaceDevs Launch Library 2. Page generated May 23, 2026.