SpaceX photo Flying a more westerly route, a Falcon 9 rocket and its cargo of Starlink satellites punctuated the end of July with liftoff Wednesday morning from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket blasted off shortly after 11:30 a.m. Thursday from Space Launch Complex-4 with 19 Starlink satellites on board. Approximately an hour later, SpaceX confirmed the rocket’s second stage deployed the satellites. This was the 27th launch and landing for the first-stage booster, which successfully landed on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff. The rocket appeared to travel in a southwesterly direction rather than hugging the California coastline. Launch trajectories and liftoff times are determined by where the payload needs to be placed in space. The launch came as Starlink’s constellation has seen more than 9,300 satellites launched with more than 8,000 remaining in orbit, according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell’s detailed report on the status of the spacecraft. “Starlink is built to deliver reliable high-speed internet, even when a customer’s view of the sky isn’t perfect,” according to an update from the firm. “Trees, buildings and other obstacles can temporarily block the connection to a given satellite, but the system is designed in such a way that these are generally imperceptible to the user. “A given user terminal in the US has 10s of satellites in view, providing diversity to route traffic via a satellite with a stable and unobstructed connection.” Your Neighbors Depend on This Hawks Club members help us provide free local journalism for everyone in Santa Barbara County. Your support ensures your neighbors stay informed, whether they can contribute or not.