Sonic Booom: 101

Vandenberg Space Force Base

U.S. Space Force Col. James T. Horne III, left, Space Launch Delta 30 commander, presents Vandenberg’s Hawk of the Week Award to Specialist 4 Ricardo Vargas-Guevara, right, 630th Cyberspace Squadron cyber defense operator, during a weekly installation leadership meeting at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Feb. 4, 2026.

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U.S. Space Force Col. James T. Horne III, left, Space Launch Delta 30 commander, presents Vandenberg’s Hawk of the Week Award to Specialist 4 Ricardo Vargas-Guevara, right, 630th Cyber Defense Squadron cyber defense operator, during a weekly installation leadership meeting.

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U.S. Space Force Maj. Christopher Menino, right side of photo, 2nd Range Operations Squadron deputy squadron commander, and Dawn Thomas, left side of photo, a range operations systems training engineer, monitor range data on computer screens.

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The Western Range Operations Control Center (WROCC) countdown clock ticks down

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U.S. Space Force 2nd Lt. Abigail Ryan, 2nd Range Operations Squadron range operations commander, monitors range data in preparation for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Starlink 17-19 mission, from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Jan. 29, 2026.

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a person holds a rifle and looks through the sight

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a man stands in front of a classroom and talks about handling a rifle safely

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a person loads rounds into a rifle magazine

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a person in a prone position fires a rifle down a firing range

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a person in a prone position fires a rifle at a firing range

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a person stands on a podium and talks about firing range rules

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a man holds a rifle and looks down the sight

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A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink 17-19 mission launches from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Jan. 29, 2026. This mission marked the sixth launch of 2026 from the Vandenberg spaceport and test range.

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A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink 17-19 mission launches from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Jan. 29, 2026. This mission marked the sixth launch of 2026 from the Vandenberg spaceport and test range.

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A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink 17-19 mission launches from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Jan. 29, 2026. This mission marked the sixth launch of 2026 from the Vandenberg spaceport and test range.

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Jackson Taylor, 30th Civil Engineer Squadron biological scientist, stands on a dune habitat at Wall Beach at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

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Two bulldozers smooth out sand on a dune during the dune restoration project at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

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Jackson Taylor, 30th Civil Engineer Squadron biological scientist, stands on one of the contour dune plots at Wall Beach at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

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Vandenberg’s 30th Civil Engineer Squadron works on dune treatment operations during an ongoing dune restoration project at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

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A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink 17-20 mission launches from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Jan. 25, 2026.

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