SpaceX has landed on the West Coast for the first time [Updated]

Trevor Mahlmann/Special to Ars

10:35pm ET Update: On Sunday night, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket took off as scheduled and ascended into space. After about three minutes, the second stage carried its payload onward, toward a successful deployment of the SAOCOM 1A satellite into a Sun-synchronous orbit.

After it separated from the second stage, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket arrested its forward movement and began falling back toward Earth. It, too, found success in landing at a new site north of Los Angeles. This marked the first time a Falcon 9 rocket has landed on the West Coast and was SpaceX's 30th landing of a first stage, overall.

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