Sonic Booms Expected To Rattle SoCal Tuesday

CALIFORNIA — It could get window-rattlingly loud Tuesday afternoon in Southern California and the Central Coast when a SpaceX satellite launch is expected to produce multiple sonic booms.

The private spacecraft company is planning to launch a satellite using a rocket at 3:20 p.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.

About eight minutes after liftoff, the rocket's first stage is expected to come back to earth at Vandenberg — that's when people may hear one or more sonic booms, SpaceX said.

"What residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions," the company said in a release.

The booms are expected to be audible across multiple counties. A sonic boom can carry for hundreds of miles.

"Sonic booms are caused by an object moving faster than sound — about 750 miles per hour at sea level. An aircraft traveling through the atmosphere continuously produces air-pressure waves similar to the water waves caused by a ship's bow," according to the Edwards Airforce Base website. "When the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound, these pressure waves combine and form shock waves which travel in all directions and eventually reach the ground. The sound heard on the ground is the sudden onset and release of pressure after the buildup by the shock wave."

Unlike SpaceX's nighttime launches — which have become known for the spectacles they create in the sky that can be seen over a wide area — this daytime launch is expected to be visible to the unaided eye over a limited area.

SEE ALSO: That Was No Earthquake — Mysterious Sonic Boom Rattles SoCal

The rocket, Falcon 9, has been launched 339 times before. The world's first orbital-class reusable rocket, Falcon 9 is used to transport people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond, according to SpaceX.

On Tuesday, it will launch the European Space Agency's Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) satellite, which will study clouds and aerosols around the Earth to help improve the accuracy of climate models and support weather prediction, according to the agency.

Like all rocket launches, Tuesday's is subject to delay. If plans fall through Tuesday, SpaceX has a backup launch time slated for Wednesday at 3:20 p.m.

For more information about the launch and to watch a live stream visit SpaceX's website.