A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Feb. 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the Spanish Paz radar observation satellite and two prototypes for a planned broadband Internet network.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg at 6:17 a.m. PST (9:17 a.m. EST; 1417 GMT) on Feb. 22.
The payloads aboard the two-stage commercial rocket, which flew with a reused first stage boost, were the Paz radar reconnaissance satellite for Madrid-based Hisdesat and two Starlink testbed satellites for SpaceX’s planned constellation to broadcast global Internet service from space.
The Falcon 9 rocket placed the satellites into orbit more than 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth.
These images show the Falcon 9’s blastoff from California’s Central Coast just before sunrise.
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