Friday evening, the Southwest got its own prime-time space show as a SpaceX Falcon 9 leapt off the California coast and traced a bright streak over El Paso and surrounding communities, widely counted as the company's first orbital launch of 2026. The rocket carried a radar-equipped Italian Earth observation satellite and, after a few last-minute slips, reached low Earth orbit. As the vehicle climbed away, viewers reported the familiar glowing "jellyfish" plume that can hang in the sky during twilight.
The Falcon 9 lifted off at 7:09 p.m. Mountain Time from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, according to the El Paso Times. The mission carried CSG-3, a COSMO-SkyMed Second-Generation satellite for the Italian Space Agency, into a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit. SpaceX's live webcast showed the booster touching down at Landing Zone 4 only minutes after stage separation, with the upper stage completing deployment shortly afterward, per Space.com.
What the satellite does
CSG-FM3 is the third satellite in Italy's COSMO-SkyMed Second-Generation constellation and carries an X-band synthetic-aperture radar that can image the planet day or night and through clouds. Thales Alenia Space reported that the spacecraft was successfully inserted into its planned orbit and that telemetry was acquired by Telespazio's Fucino ground station shortly after launch. The Italian Space Agency notes that the constellation supports both civilian and defense uses, including disaster monitoring and maritime surveillance.
Last-minute delays
The liftoff followed a string of schedule slips around the holidays as teams carried out extra ground-system checks and worked through a pad hardware issue, Spaceflight Now reported. Tracking outlets briefly listed the mission for late December before it was pushed to early January. Flight planners moved the targeted liftoff time into the new year and ultimately cleared the rocket for a Friday evening launch after wrapping up those checks.
How it looked from the ground
Observers across Southern California and the broader Southwest reported a bright contrail and a diffuse twilight "jellyfish" cloud as the exhaust plume spread out at high altitude. Space.com described the visual effect and noted that liftoff came at 6:09 p.m. Pacific, which put the rocket in view for a wide swath of skywatchers. Local guides in Lompoc and Santa Barbara often share favorite lookout spots for Vandenberg launches, handy for anyone hoping to catch the next one without guessing where to stand.
Why the mission matters
Beyond the sky show, the flight adds another high-resolution radar asset to Italy's monitoring network and underscores the steady cadence of commercial launches that has become routine for SpaceX. Spaceflight Now noted that the launch marked the first orbital mission of 2026 for the company and capped a relentless tempo around the New Year. For emergency response and environmental monitoring, the satellite's extra revisit capability is the concrete payoff for scientists and planners on the ground.
SpaceX's operational center remains in South Texas at Starbase near Boca Chica, a community whose residents recently voted to incorporate as its own municipality, a local report noted. The vote and its implications for local governance and future launch activity drew attention to the company's Texas hub, a contrast to Vandenberg's role as a busy West Coast outpost for polar and sun-synchronous missions.
Thales Alenia Space said the spacecraft's signal was picked up roughly an hour after separation and that early checkout of its instruments will continue over the coming days. The company added that the satellite is expected to enter nominal operations after a routine nine-day launch-and-early-orbit phase. SpaceX's next West Coast missions are already appearing on public launch calendars, so curious skywatchers in El Paso and beyond likely will not have to wait long for another reason to look up.
