Tuesday, October 2, 2018

SpaceX Plans Rocket Landing At Vandenberg Saturday

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is getting set to launch another rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, just north of Santa Barbara--and hopes to also land the first stage of its Falcon 9 on land at a nearby landing pad. SpaceX--which is targeting the launch for 7:21 p.m. on Saturday--has set up a new landing pad not far from its launchpad at Vandenberg, where it will attempt its first West Coast landing of one of its rocket stages. SpaceX has successfully been launching and landing its rockets both out on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as on land in Florida. The launch on Saturday would be the first landing on the West Coast on land. The landing may be heard throughout the Central Coast in the form of a sonic boom. Image: view of a Falcon 9 engine from an earlier launch from Vandenberg.