I caught my first SpaceX launch light show over Southern California last night, except it wasn't Spacex? It was a completely different company called Firefly Aerospace, https://fireflyspace.com/ . I had no idea there are multiple companies launching rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base, now referred to as Vandenberg Space Force Base.
I had just left the casino $1200 richer and was driving home when I looked in the sky and saw this.
I slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road to witness the amazing sight.
You could see the different stages of the rocket peel away as time passed.
I was probably lucky I was up in the mountains, away from the city so the light pollution wasn't as bad as down in the city. This site was visible all over Southern California though.
And just like that the show was over. However, not before the one last, beautiful shot.
Looking into the launch a bit, it seems it was for NASA cubesats going into orbit. Again, I thought SpaceX had that market? The launch was also visible in Phoenix, Az! https://x.com/Joegrana_photo/status/1808760820693938388
Watching the launch I immediately had a feeling of pride. That maybe, just maybe humans will make it off world before we obliterate ourselves. It reminded me of the rocket launches froom the movie Gattaca.
Anyway, I hope you got a chance to enjoy the light show in person, or at least through these photos. Happy Independence Day!
Here is a link to Firefly's Twitter account if you're interested https://x.com/Firefly_Space .
Thanks for reading!
All pictures taken with my Iphone 12. Time for an upgrade!
