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Spectacular sight! Record setting SpaceX rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base

The view of the California Coast from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday morning.
SpaceX
The view of the California Coast from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday morning.

Despite some cloud cover, the flight was visible throughout much of Tri-Counties.

Maybe you saw it, SpaceX successfully launched its second Falcon 9 rocket from the Central Coast in less than two weeks.

It happened a day later than planned, but a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket had a perfect liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday morning.

The launch was originally planned for Thursday morning, but a bad reading on one of the Falcon 9’s engines prompted a one-day postponement so it can be checked.

The mission took 46 Starlink satellites into orbit, to join a growing global network intended to improve internet communications in underserved parts of the world. The reusable first stage booster successful landed on a barge in the Pacific Ocean.

The 10:39 a.m. launch was visible throughout much of the Tri-Counties. It was the 32nd launch of the year for SpaceX, breaking the all-time annual record of 31 set by the company in 2021.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.