In California, rockets launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base. In Florida, rockets launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. If conditions are right, some SpaceX launches from California can be seen in Phoenix, Arizona. When there's a SpaceX or United Launch Alliance launch in California, rockets blast off from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Depending on weather and cloud cover, visibility could extend hundreds of miles from Vandenberg, California. For example, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch with 53 Starlink satellites on board lifted off Oct. 27, 2022, from Vandenberg and could be seen in Palm Springs, California (about 270 miles away). Another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch on June 18, 2024, from Vandenberg clearly streaked across the dark blue-gray sky in Coachella Valley. Maps show Vandenberg Space Force Base is about 285 miles from Indio, California, the site of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Sometimes, a rocket launched from Vandenberg can be seen in another state. A photo gallery and video with this story show SpaceX and United Launch Alliance rocket launches in Vandenberg, California, visible in Phoenix, Arizona (about 530 miles away) and Fairbanks, Alaska (about 3,200 miles away), amid the aurora borealis or Northern Lights on April 18, 2023.