SpaceX Photos: PAZ, Internet Satellite Launch

Thursday morning, after several delays, SpaceX launched the PAZ rocket along with two of its test internet satellites before the sun even rose at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Falcon 9 rocket took off just after the scheduled launch time of 6:17 a.m. PST and approximately 11 minutes later the PAZ satellite was deployed into space. The payload of the rocket consisted of the commercial payload for Hisdesat consisting of the PAZ satellite that can take photos of the Earth through any meteorological condition. The satellite will circle the Earth about 15 times a day collecting data about the Earth constantly.

The payload also included two internet satellites for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Starlink venture. Those satellites are meant to

While SpaceX made no attempt to recover the first stage of the rocket, the company did make its first attempt at recovering the fairing, or nosecone, of the payload. To do so, the company tried using a boat with a massive net stretched across it. Elon Musk posted a photo of the boat to Instagram and explained in the caption that when the fairing fell it would be traveling at roughly eight times the speed of sound. Thrusters and a guidance system were expected to capture the fairing intact.

The fairing missed the boat, named Mr.Steven, and landed off in the Pacific Ocean. Musk noted that there was no "apparent damage" to the fairing.