A Falcon 9 rocket delivered a German military satellite into space after a Saturday morning launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base while providing an early morning wakeup call for the Central Coast.
Liftoff occurred at 7:19 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base, where the morning clouds hovered around the rocket and a long rumble sounded as the Falcon climbed skyward.
The Space Exploration Technologies rocket’s first-stage booster also returned to Vandenberg, with window-rattling sonic booms signaling the arrival before it touched down on its target west of the launch site.
The primary payload aboard the rocket was an Airbus-built Earth observation satellite, dubbed SARah-1, for the German Bundeswehr.
At the request of its customer, the SpaceX livestream of the mission ended after the first-stage booster’s landing and before confirmation of SARah-1’s arrival in its intended orbit.
Less than 90 minutes after launch, German officials confirmed that the satellite had arrived in orbit, according to Spaceflight Now.
SARah-1 will mark the first for the German military’s new reconnaissance system consisting of several satellites and a ground segment.
Using the latest radar technology, SARah-1 has been designed to deliver extremely high-resolution observations of the Earth’s surface, regardless of time of day and weather conditions.
Saturday’s mission marked the third launch and landing for the booster, which previously placed two top-secret payloads into space for the National Reconnaissance Office following liftoffs from Vandenberg.
It also was the sixth return to Vandenberg for a Falcon’s first-stage booster and SpaceX’s 125th successful recovery of a rocket.
The Vandenberg liftoff was one of three for SpaceX in less than three days, with the others launching from Florida on Friday and another planned for approximately 14 hours after the West Coast rocket’s departure.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
