SANTA BARBARA - SpaceX inaugurated its West Coast rocket-landing pad in style Sunday night.

A Falcon 9 rocket with a pre-flown first stage launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 7:21 p.m. successfully delivering Argentina's SAOCOM-1A Earth-observation satellite to orbit. And, less than 8 minutes after liftoff, the booster's first stage came back to Earth for a pinpoint touchdown at SpaceX's Vandenberg landing zone, just a quarter-mile from its launch pad.

"This is great news for everyone here at SpaceX," Tom Praderio, a SpaceX firmware engineer, said during live launch commentary. "We're all very excited."

The twilight launch created a spectacular sight in the night sky for spectators in Southern California, who took to Twitter to share their amazing photos.

Story Date: October 12, 2018