SpaceX rocket blasts off from Vandenberg. Here’s what it was carrying

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday afternoon, carrying a payload of Starlink satellites into orbit.

The rocket took off from the launch pad shortly before 3 p.m., shooting across Central Coast skies and leaving a curling trail of white smoke.

This was the fourth flight for the rocket’s first-stage booster, according to SpaceX. Following stage separation, it was expected to land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Ahead of the launch, residents in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties were warned of the potential to hear a sonic boom, though that would depend on weather and other conditions, SpaceX said.

The rocket carried 25 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit as part of a $74 million mission.

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

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Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.