Vandenberg Launches NASA's TRACERS Mission

Vandenberg SFB Guardians and Airmen supported the NASA Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, July 23, 2025. The TRACERS mission placed two satellites in sun-synchronous orbit, ensuring consistent observation of Earth’s dayside polar cusps. By comparing data from both spacecraft, scientists will track how magnetic reconnection events evolve over time and build a large dataset of thousands of events to improve understanding of space weather’s impact on Earth. (U.S. Space Force Photo by Jennifer Green-Lanchoney)

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Vandenberg Launches NASA's TRACERS Mission

Vandenberg SFB Guardians and Airmen supported the NASA Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, July 23, 2025. NASA’s TRACERS mission sent two spacecraft into low Earth orbit to study magnetic reconnection. These satellites will pass through the polar cusps regions, where solar particles funnel into the atmosphere, to gather data on how magnetic field lines break and reconnect, a key process in space weather. (U.S.Space Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Hernandez)

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Vandenberg Launches NASA's TRACERS Mission

Vandenberg SFB Guardians and Airmen supported the NASA Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, July 23, 2025. Earth’s magnetosphere shields the planet from solar wind, but magnetic reconnection, caused by interactions between solar wind and the magnetosphere, can direct energetic particles into the atmosphere. This process causes phenomena such as auroras but can also disrupt satellites and GPS systems. TRACERS aims to better understand these dynamics by closely studying reconnection events in the polar cusps. (U.S. Space Force photo illustration by Staff Sergeant Joshua LeRoi)

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Vandenberg Launches NASA's TRACERS Mission

Published July 25, 2025
By Staff Sgt. Joshua LeRoi

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. --

Vandenberg SFB Guardians and Airmen supported the NASA Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, July 23, 2025. NASA’s TRACERS mission sent two spacecraft into low Earth orbit to study magnetic reconnection.