SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from California base
Vivian Chow
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday night.
The rocket lifted off at 7:25 p.m. and was visible for hundreds of miles away. The mission involved transporting 21 Starlink satellites into orbit, including six with Direct to Cell capabilities.
After launching vertically, the Falcon began a gradual turn while continuing to climb into orbit. Following stage separation after liftoff, the Falcon’s reusable booster made a pinpoint landing back on the spaceport drone ship, “Of Course I Still Love You,” which is stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
The first-stage booster on this particular Falcon 9 rocket had completed six liftoffs so far. The boosters have previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, and one Starlink mission.
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite network designed to bring low-cost internet service to rural/remote communities.
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 6, 2024. (SpaceX)
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 6, 2024. (SpaceX)
FILE – In this May 30, 2020, file photo, a SpaceX Falcon 9, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Dragon crew capsule, lifts off from Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. For the first time in nearly a decade, astronauts blasted towards orbit aboard an American rocket from American soil, a first for a private company. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket from a Southern California base. (SpaceX)
FILE – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander, lifts off from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. Intuitive Machines reported Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, that it’s communicating with its lander, Odysseus, and sending commands to acquire science data. But it noted: “We continue to learn more about the vehicle’s specific information” regarding location, overall health and positioning. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
SpaceX preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Jan. 19, 2024. (SpaceX)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon capsule and a crew of four private astronauts lifts off from pad 39A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, May 21, 2023. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc on Dec. 22, 2017. (Credit: Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)
In this image provided by NASA, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft onboard, sits during sunrise, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a payload of 40 satellites for OneWeb broadband communications, lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon capsule and a crew of four private astronauts, lifts off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, May 21, 2023. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
In this image from video provided by SpaceX, South Korea launches its first military spy satellite from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. Using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, it was the first of five spy satellites South Korea plans to send into space by 2025 under a contract with SpaceX. The launch took place a little over a week after North Korea claimed to put its own spy satellite into orbit for the first time as tensions rise between the rivals. (SpaceX via AP)
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California on July 19, 2023. (SpaceX)
SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship launches for it’s third test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule with a crew of four on a mission to the International Space Station is seen during a time exposure as it lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket seen over Southern California on Mar. 18, 2024. (KTLA)
1 / 16
After previous successful launches, Starlink now boasts over 6,000 functional satellites orbiting the Earth, about 342 miles above. The launches are part of the company’s goal to build a giant constellation of broadband satellites across the globe.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, told Business Insider he plans to eventually create a constellation of up to 42,000 satellites.
The Falcon 9 rocket is the “world’s first orbital class reusable rocket,” according to SpaceX. The reusable vessel is designed to safely transport people and payloads into the Earth’s orbit and beyond.
Saturday night’s launch was the 32nd Falcon 9 flight in 2024.
So far, the entire fleet of Falcon 9 rockets has clocked in 317 total launches, 275 landings and 248 reflights.
Live footage of the launch can be seen in the video player above.
