A SpaceX rocket is scheduled to launch Friday night from the coast of Santa Barbara County.
Launch is scheduled for 8:14 p.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket will soar south along the coast with a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The agency builds and operates America’s fleet of spy satellites.
A mysterious bright beam of light appeared in the night sky over Los Angeles.
The first stage rocket booster will land on an unmanned ship at sea.
The rocket may be visible from around Los Angeles, but it likely won’t offer the dramatic spectacle of previous launches against a darker sky unless it launches later in the two-hour launch window. Sunset is scheduled for 8:08 pm on Friday in Los Angeles, just minutes before the launch window opens.
Viewers watched as the satellites left a trail of clouds after liftoff in a live stream of the launch on SpaceX’s X account.
The rocket and its exhaust plume are sometimes visible for hundreds of miles as it soars along the coast, if the sky is clear and dark enough. Launches after sunset and before sunrise usually provide the best views, as the rocket reflects the sun’s rays against the backdrop of a dark sky.
Hawthorne-based SpaceX launched 96 successful missions with its Falcon rockets in 2023, eclipsing its previous annual record of 61 orbital launches in 2022.
