SpaceX Photos: Jason-3 Satellite Launch and Falcon 9 Rocket Landing

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Taking in the View: Falcon 9 and Jason-3

NASA/Kim Shiflett

At Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to boost the Jason-3 spacecraft into orbit for NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and EUMETSAT, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. See launch video and read the full story here.

SpaceX's California Launch Pad

NASA/Kim Shiflett

At Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to boost the Jason-3 spacecraft into orbit for NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and EUMETSAT, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. See launch video and read the full story here.

SpaceX

SpaceX's mission logo for the Jason-3 satellite launch on its Falcon 9 rocket. See launch video and read the full story here.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Landing Try: Droneship View

SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster approaches the droneship Just Read The Instructions during a landing attempt in the Pacific Ocean on Jan. 17, 2016 after the successful launch of the Jason-3 ocean satellite.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.