SpaceX rocket launches over Southern California after four-day delay
After weather scuttled plans to launch a SpaceX satellite from Vandenberg Space Force Base last week, Southern California was treated to a light show Monday night.
A Starlink launch that was scheduled for Thursday night was postponed to Monday at 7:30 p.m., the company said in a statement. The rocket was airborne around 8 p.m., according to a video the company posted to X. Angelenos were posting images of the rocket’s trail in the sky not too long afterward.
The launch had been planned for 7:30 p.m. Thursday until bad weather caused the takeoff to be scrapped. SpaceX announced the cancellation at 10:22 p.m. Thursday.
Earthlings from Southern California to Phoenix were treated to a spectacular, albeit brief, show as night fell and the light illuminated the sky.
Monday’s mission, seen just after sunset in the skies northwest of Los Angeles, featured a “Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit,” the company said.
The last such launch provided onlookers with a spectacle that generated buzz across Southern California, with some people on social media questioning what they were seeing in the sky.
That memorable launch at sunset on March 18 was the 10th from Vandenberg Space Force Base, making Monday’s launch No. 11. As Space.com reports, it was also the 32nd Falcon 9 launch of 2024, “and the 21st dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation.”
Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
