Video by Howard Thorn
What appeared to be a comet streaking over the Santa Monica Bay shortly after dark Friday evening was a SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:27 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Times. SpaceX builds the rockets in Hawthorne. The rocket was carrying 10 satellites to low-Earth orbit. The satellites will be part of a constellation operated by Iridium Communications. All 10 satellites successfully deployed, with the last one deploying about 1 hour and 12 minutes after liftoff.
