A SpaceX rocket carrying a Spanish satellite created a brief light show over Southern California after blasting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The Falcon 9 rose above coastal clouds into the dawn sky Thursday and arced southward over the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles.
Southern Californians had been hoping for a repeat of the spectacle that occurred Dec. 22 when a Falcon 9 lifted off at twilight during exceptionally clear weather, triggering a social media storm.
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Shortly after liftoff, Spain’s PAZ satellite successfully entered orbit. The satellite carries an instrument to make radar images of the Earth for government and commercial purposes.
Secondary test satellites for a proposed space-based internet system were to be released later.