SpaceX Launch

Hawthorne-based SpaceX launched a NASA ocean- monitoring satellite into orbit Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California. Residents in parts of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties could hear a series of sonic booms following liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket.

Southern California-based SpaceX is on the verge of making history as it prepares for a joint launch with NASA that will bring four astronauts to the International Space Station.