SpaceX rocket launch wow's SoCal residents with spectacular sunset views

SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base into orbit Monday, March 18, causing a stir on social media and beyond.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:28 p.m., just after sunset, carrying the 22 Starlink internet satellites into low Earth orbit where they were deployed about an hour after liftoff, according to the SpaceX website, http://www.spacex.com.

Many took to social media posting photos and video with people from as far away as Arizona and Utah reportedly witnessing the event.

"Dazzling display of SpaceX rocket launch seen in Utah," SLCScanner tweeted with a photo of the launch on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

"I caught a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Arizona," Nathan La Rue tweeted. "Looked really cool."

"Crazy!!!! Just saw this launch from AZ!!!" Tempe, Arizona resident DeVon Burgess said on a Facebook post along with a photo of the rocket moving through the sky.

According to a replay of the launch on the website, the Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8 and a half minutes after liftoff, landing vertically on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You," stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

The launch and landing were the 10th for the booster, according to the SpaceX mission description.

You can watch the full mission at https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-7-16 or on SpaceX's post on X, https://twitter.com/SpaceX, where the successful deployment of the Starlink satellites was confirmed.