Southern California

Streak Across Sky Was Not Santa, But SpaceX Satellite Launch

SpaceX launched a rocket Friday night that streaked across the Southern California sky, prompting a flood of speculation about UFOs and Santa's new ride.

The launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket happened at 5:27 p.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California. The rocket was set to deliver 10 satellites to low-Earth orbit for Iridium that makes mobile voice and data satellite communications.

A SpaceX satellite launch lit up the sky captivating Southern California.

It was the fourth set of 10 satellites in a series of 75 satellites that SpaceX will launch for the company's latest global satellite constellation, Iridium® NEXT, the company said in a statement.

The tech replaces the world's largest commercial satellite network of low-Earth orbit satellites in what SpaceX said was one of the largest "tech upgrades" in history.

NBC4 Meteorologist David Biggar captures the captivating SpaceX rocket launch on Friday, Dec. 22, 2017.

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Many people tweeted about it, posting pictures and video, wondering if it was a UFO or Santa kicking it up a notch.

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