SpaceX Falcon Launch Lights Up Bonita Sky

If you happened to be looking up at about 8:30 last night, you might have seen the SpaceX Falcon launch as it careened across the the western sky heading southward.

I never get tired of these launches.

The launch originated at Vandenberg Space Force Base. (also known as the Space X launch site). It's about 280 miles north of us, located in Santa Barbara County. Formerly known as Vandenberg Air Force Base, the name changed sometime around 2021.

Falcon rocket traveling southward.

According to AI, they were scheduled to send up 24 Starlink satellites last night with a window starting around 7:48PM. The bright white trail is the exhaust catching the sunlight after sunset.

What does the actual launch look like? Below is a photo of the first successful Falcon 1 launch in September 2008.

First Falcon launch | September 2008 | SpaceX

Space X is short for Space Exploration Technologies. The prominent, sweeping curve that cuts through the letter "X" of the logo is designed to mimic the aerodynamic path a rocket takes as it launches from the ground and arcs into space. The image below perfectly captures that trajectory.

Image created by r/space | luke_in_the_sky | The Space X logo matches exactly with the Falcon 9 trajectory in this image.

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