Photos: Falcon takes flight

SpaceX plans to build its massive BFR rocket boosters and spaceships inside a cavernous new factory at the Port of Los Angeles, officials announced this week.

SpaceX had to swap out the first stage booster used during the previous attempt and replace it with another for this mission. Liftoff from pad 40 happened at 12 a.m. EST (0500 UTC) on Sunday, Dec. 29.

A European-built satellite with the unusual shape of a house launched into orbit Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast, carrying a sophisticated radar altimeter to measure rising sea levels on our home planet.