SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Friday night.
The rocket lifted off at 8:14 p.m. PT
Friday night’s mission, called NROL-186, involved transporting a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, a government agency in charge of designing and building spy satellites for the U.S.
After launching vertically, the Falcon began a gradual turn while continuing to climb into orbit.
Following stage separation after liftoff, the Falcon’s reusable booster made a pinpoint landing back on the spaceport drone ship, “Of Course I Still Love You,” which is stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
The first-stage booster on this particular Falcon 9 rocket has completed eight liftoffs so far. The booster has previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, EarthCARE, and two Starlink missions.
Friday night’s launch could be visible from hundreds of miles away along the Southern California coast.
The launch was the 66th Falcon 9 flight in 2024. So far, 47 of the rocket’s launches were dedicated to building SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellite network in low Earth orbit.