Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch lights up the sky over LA as he puts a satellite into orbit and lands his rocket on the West Coast for the first time
- SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched into space carrying an Argentinian Earth-observation satellite on Sunday
- The space craft’s first-stage boosters safely landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for first time
- California residents witnesses sea of bright blues and oranges in sky as the rocket was blasted into orbit
Elon Musk on Sunday celebrated the successful launch of a rocket carrying a satellite into space days after he was forced to settle the SEC’s fraud lawsuit.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried an Argentinian Earth-observation satellite into orbit and for the first time landed a first-stage booster back at its California launch site.
The primary purpose of the mission was to place the SAOCOM 1A satellite into space, but SpaceX also wanted to expand its recovery of first-stage boosters to its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, about 130 miles north-west of Los Angeles.
Elon Musk on Sunday celebrated the successful launch of a rocket carrying a satellite into space
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried an Argentinian Earth-observation satellite into orbit
California residents were treated to a light show in the sky as the rocket was blasted into space
Bright blues and oranges painted the sky when the space craft took off about 130 miles from Los Angeles
SpaceX had previously flown first-stage rockets back to land after Florida launches but had not done so on the West Coast.
The Air Force last week advised residents on the central California coast they might see multiple engine burns by the first stage and hear one or more sonic booms as it returned.
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SpaceX also has successfully landed Falcon 9 first stages on so-called drone ships off the coasts of Florida and California, all as part of its effort to decrease the cost of space launches by reusing rockets rather than allowing them to fall into the ocean.
The satellite is the first of two for Argentina’s space agency, Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, and will work in conjunction with a constellation of Italian space agency satellites.
Two streaks in this long exposure photo show a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base
The company successfully landed a first-stage booster back at its California launch site
SpaceX had previously flown first-stage rockets back to land after Florida launches but had not done so on the West Coast. Pictured: The rocket separates from its launch vehicle
Its name is short for Satelite Argentino de Observacion Con Microondas.
SAOCOM 1A carries a high-resolution instrument called a synthetic aperture radar that will be used for emergency management during disasters and for land monitoring. The second satellite will be SAOCOM 1B.
The launch comes just days after Elon Musk was fined $20million and told he must resign as chairman of Tesla after reaching a settlement on fraud charges.
Musk was accused of posting ‘false and misleading information’ to Twitter about taking his company private at $420 a share on August 7.
The acclaimed engineer told his followers he’d secured funding and only needed a shareholder vote to proceed.
The SEC claims Musk’s tweets had no factual basis, and caused chaos in the stock market, which hurt investors.
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