“What the heck is that?!” southern California resident Jessica Equils, 40, said pointing at the cloud trail of a fast-moving rocket flying over Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs, Calif., on Monday evening.
“That looks amazing.”
Shortly after sunset on March 18, SpaceX launched a 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket that carried a payload of 22 Starlink communications satellites out of Vandenberg Space Force Base—64 miles northwest of Santa Barbara.
According to SpaceX, Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket, allowing the most expensive parts of the rocket to return to Earth after launch, driving down the cost of space access.
Elon Musk is the Chief Executive Officer of the aerospace company, which he co-founded in 2002 with engineer and rocket designer Tom Mueller.
To date, SpaceX has launched 310 Falcon 9 rocket missions since its first launch in 2010.
