SpaceX's evening Starlink launch wows West Coast skywatchers (photos)

Josh Dinner
·3 min read
An expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light on the left, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky. Silhouettes of onlookers line the bottom, near a guard rail fence. City lights are seen low in the distance.
An expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light on the left, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky. Silhouettes of onlookers line the bottom, near a guard rail fence. City lights are seen low in the distance.

A SpaceX Starlink launch lit up skies across the U.S. West Coast on Monday evening (March 18), leaving a dazzling trail seen for hundreds of miles.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on California's central coast Monday at 10:28 p.m. EDT (7:28 p.m. local time; 0228 GMT on March 19). The launch vehicle carried a batch of 22 Starlink satellites to add to SpaceX's ever-expanding wireless internet megaconstellation.

In what's come to be known as the "jellyfish" effect, the dusk launch provided ideal conditions for the setting sun to light up the rocket's expanding engine plume against the darkening sky, as the vehicle climbed high into Earth's atmosphere.

Related: SpaceX launches 22 Starlink satellites from California in dusky evening liftoff (video)

an expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light in the center, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky. A dimly-lit building stands on a silhouetted hill on the lower left. City lights are seen low in the distance on the right.
an expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light in the center, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky. A dimly-lit building stands on a silhouetted hill on the lower left. City lights are seen low in the distance on the right.

The launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base is notorious for its overcast and extremely foggy conditions, so Monday's clear skies were a relatively rare treat for onlookers.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, SpaceX shared photos of the launch.

a bright yellow streak arches upward and over from the bottom right, on a low silhouetted horizon against a dark blue sky.
a bright yellow streak arches upward and over from the bottom right, on a low silhouetted horizon against a dark blue sky.
an expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light on the left, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky.
an expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light on the left, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky.

Many X users responded to SpaceX's post, sharing their photos of the Falcon 9 jellyfish, which could be seen in neighboring states. "I can see it from my rooftop in Arizona," wrote Brandon D. Schilling (@BrandoSchil).

Observers at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles were also treated to the sky site, as the Falcon 9's trail stretched above the busy city low on the horizon.

an expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light on the left, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky. Silhouettes of onlookers line the bottom, near a guard rail fence. City lights are seen low in the distance.
an expanding white plume extends from a small point of white light on the left, growing thicker in a stream across the darkening blue sky. Silhouettes of onlookers line the bottom, near a guard rail fence. City lights are seen low in the distance.

Monday's launch was the 10th mission for this particular Falcon 9 first stage, which landed downrange on SpaceX's droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean shortly after liftoff. The rocket's second stage continued to orbit, successfully deploying the 22-satellite payload in low Earth orbit (LEO).

SpaceX's Starlink megaconstellation currently consists of more than 5,500 satellites, and continues to grow. A recent test launch of the company's giant Starship vehicle included a payload bay door designed to deploy SpaceX's next-generation Starlink satellites, expected to add thousands more to the network once in operation.