When you purchase through links on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .

If you ’re in the vicinity of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Sunday evening ( Oct. 7 ) , you might hear some strange booming and see some uncanny lights in the sky . But the Air Force would like you to have it off that there ’s no demand to concern ; something solely normal is going on — a rocket that heaved its way up into distance will be falling back to Earth , castigate its flight with " multiple engine burns , " and then ( if all goes well ) settle well back on its landing place struts in the locality of its launch site .

The Air Force released thewarningbecause , while Floridians have hadample timeto grow comfortable with the spectacle ofSpaceXlandings , this will be the first attack to land a Falcon 9 rocket engine on the West Coast . It will not , however , be the first launching from Vandenberg :

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Dec. 22, 2017, with bystanders on the ground getting a gorgeous light show.

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Dec. 22, 2017, with bystanders on the ground getting a gorgeous light show.

The Eruca vesicaria sativa is presently schedule to launch at 7:21 p.m. local prison term , acquit theSAOCOM 1Asatellite into space , and return to Earth shortly afterward .

According to a Facebookpostby the Air Force ’s thirtieth Space Wing at Vandenberg , " local residents " can expect to see something of the projectile itself as it render to the base , while people as far as Santa Barbara , Ventura and San Luis Obispo county may learn thunderclap - like transonic manna from heaven , depend on the weather .

Originally publish onLive Science .

Photo of a large blue swirl of light in the sky captured by a backyard camera

An illustration of a satellite crashing into the ocean after an uncontrolled reentry through Earth�s atmosphere

A white streak of light in the night sky with purple auroras visible in the background

a map showing where the Soviet satellite may fall

An artist�s illustration of a fireball entering the Earth�s atmosphere at sunset.

A photo of starship launching in the distance with massive plume of smoke

An image comparing the relative sizes of our solar system�s known dwarf planets, including the newly discovered 2017 OF201

An illustration of Jupiter showing its magnetic field

The Long March-7A carrier rocket carrying China Sat 3B satellite blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on May 20, 2025 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China.

A photo of a volcano erupting at night with the Milky Way visible in the sky

A simulation of turbulence between stars that resembles a psychedelic rainbow marbled pattern

This illustration shows a glowing stream of material from a star as it is being devoured by a supermassive black hole in a tidal disruption flare.

a person holds a GLP-1 injector

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an MRI scan of a brain

A photograph of two of Colossal�s genetically engineered wolves as pups.

an abstract image of intersecting lasers