A SpaceX launch briefly illuminated the Southern California sky early Friday morning, leaving commuters and local residents in awe.
Falcon 9, a reusable, two-stage rocket, launched nearly two dozen Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County just after 6 a.m. local time, according to a SpaceX news release.
Twenty-three satellites were shot to low-Earth orbit, a region of space where satellites orbit closest to planet’s surface, about an hour after takeoff.
Jeffrey Pioch, 45, caught sight of the rocket streaking across the sky while he was out for an early morning walk in Yorba Lina, about 30 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Pioch told Reuters Connect that he was “amazed” and “excited” when he realized it was a SpaceX rocket.
“This is exciting, especially with it being Space X,” Pioch said. “They are doing something special in the private market as opposed to doing it with the government. It burns bright in the sky − that is very cool.”
Video shows Space X rocket paint streak of light across the skyline
The launch marked 23 flights for the first-stage booster, a reusable booster used for Falcon9 and other Starlink launch vehicles, and the 15th Starlink mission, said SpaceX. A full video of Friday’s launch can be seen here.
SpaceX responsible for another optical experience
During a routine flight test in south Texas last week, one of SpaceX’s Starship rockets exploded in midair, creating a momentary and unique optical experience in the Caribbean. It was the seventh flight test conducted for the 400-foot-tall Starship rocket.
Several videos posted to social media captured a shower of rocket debris near Atlantic Ocean and the reaction of flabbergasted bystanders unsure what they were witnessing.
The colossal vehicle, launched from the company’s headquarters in Boca Chica, experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn” about 8 1/2 minutes after its launch.
In a mission update, SpaceX later said that the result demonstrated the unpredictable nature of development testing.
Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO, addressed the destruction of the Starship on his social media platform X, accompanied by a video of the stunning display, writing “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
Contributing: Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Ventura County Star part of the USA TODAY Network and Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY