On Saturday morning, SpaceX launched a German military satellite and landed the returning rocket. The SpaceX Falcon 9 two-stage rocket lifted off in foggy conditions from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:19 a.m.
According to flight broadcasters, the rocket pierced the cloud layer about forty seconds after liftoff.
As the Falcon descended it came back through the cloud layer and successfully landed. It was the third successful landing for the booster according to broadcasters. It also marks the 125th overall successful recovery of an orbital class rocket.
The launch delivered into orbit the German military’s SARah-1 Earth Observation Satellite, a reconnaissance satellite built by Airbus.
News-Press Associate Editor Matt Smolensky contributed to this report.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
