Central Coast Residents Greeted with Aggressive Boom from SpaceX Launch Sunday Morning

Residents of the Central Coast report hearing an “aggressive” sonic boom from a SpaceX rocket launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday morning.

At 9:30 a.m., the Falcon 9 rocket departed from Space Launch Complex 4 East with 25 Starlink satellites on board. 

This was the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Sentinel-6B, Twilight, and three Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Prior to the launch, SpaceX acknowledged there was the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.

Edhat readers sent in emails with comments and questions ranging from “what the heck was that?” to “oh fun, another booming launch.”

“As Santa Barbara residents we are growing accustomed to the jarring sonic booms from Vandenberg. Each launch has a variety of sounds from a single house shake to a longer window rattler. This is really annoying,” said edhat reader Janet S.

Earlier this month, edhat reported on Vandenberg SFB’s expanded ECOBOOM research program to better understand and reduce sonic booms that impact nearby communities, drawing on data collected from 23 launches since mid-2024.

The research is aimed toward informing future launch planning, helping officials balance national security missions with environmental protection and public quality-of-life concerns, according to a statement from Vandenberg.

Launched in June 2024, the ECOBOOM program is a research partnership between Vandenberg Space Force Base, Brigham Young University, California State University-Bakersfield, and other agencies focused on how rocket noise travels through the atmosphere and affects surrounding communities.

So far, the program has tracked sonic booms from 23 launches, and collected 477 acoustic recordings using eight monitoring stations placed throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.