A Falcon 9 rocket soars by the moon in the sky over California’s Central Coast, carrying Germany’s SARah 1 military imaging satellite into orbit. Credit: Brian Sandoval / Spaceflight Now
A four-ton, cloud-penetrating radar observation satellite for the German military soared into orbit Saturday from California on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, beginning a 10-year mission to collect all-weather reconnaissance imagery.

