SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base Sunday night, and residents from Santa Clarita were able to see the rocket in the night sky for a few moments.
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket using a previously flown first stage was launched Sunday night to boost an Argentine environmental satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The rocket’s first stage then turned around and returned to the launch site, marking the first such landing on the west coast for SpaceX, according to officials.
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SpaceX first landed a Falcon 9 booster in December of 2015 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Since then, the company has achieved more than 10 successful landings at the Air Force Station and another 18 on off-shore droneships, according to SpaceX officials.
However, the flight’s primary goal was to boost Argentina’s SAOCOM 1A satellite into an orbit around Earth’s poles. Officials say that the satellite is the first of two orbital radar stations capable of “seeing” through clouds and at night to measure soil moisture, a key indicator of crop yields, droughts and floods.
Argentina’s National Commission on Space Activities, or CONAE, is set to operate the two SAOCOM satellites in cooperation with the Italian Space Agency’s COSMO-SkyMed radar satellites.
The launch and subsequent landing of the rocket caused several sonic booms for nearby residents.
“Local residents may see the first stage of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg AFB, including multiple engine burns associated with the landing,” officials with the Air Force said on their website. “During the landing attempt residents from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties may hear one or more sonic booms.”
According to officials, Sunday’s launch marked SpaceX’s 17th flight this year, as well as the company’s 44th successful launch in a row.
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Soooo, this is an independent, non-government agency that launches these rockets? In this case, for countries outside the U.S.? Why does this strike me as ‘uncomfortable’?