This is the incredible moment a person captured a rocket flying into space from Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch.
Footage from the onlooker in Santa Barbara, California shows a bright orange light ascending into the sky following the launch of the Falcon 9 ship carrying 22 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Another eyewitness posted a similar video onto X, formally known as Twitter, of the rocket rising high into the night’s sky with the caption: ‘That was pretty cool.’
The launch took place at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:59am local time with a live webcast of the mission taking place on the company’s social media pages.
SpaceX confirmed the successful deployment of the 22 satellites just after 2am PT, which the company believe will help them to provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity across the globe.
Footage from the onlooker in Santa Barbara, California shows a bright orange light ascending into the sky following the launch of the Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit
The launch took place at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:59am local time with a live webcast of the mission taking place on the company’s social media pages
SpaceX confirmed the successful deployment of the 22 satellites just after 2am PT, which the company believe will help them to provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity across the globe
Another eyewitness posted a similar video onto X, formally known as twitter , of the rocket rising high into the night’s sky with the caption: ‘That was pretty cool’
Following the separation of the multistage rocket, the first stage of the spacecraft has land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, which is stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
This was the 18th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, Korea 425 and seven Starlink missions.
The company’s latest launch has excited a large number of social media user, with one writing: ‘SpaceX continuing to make history while we all sleep!’, another said: ‘Always a pleasure to watch’.
SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and to colonize Mars.
The company currently operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets along with the Dragon and Starship spacecraft.
Starlink is Musk’s costly satellite internet system which prides itself on offering an experience which requires minimal support and most elements, including setting up a dish, are managed through their app.
However, rural homeowners who have switched to the system have slammed the company’s customer service.
While some villagers have hailed Starlink as ‘life-changing’, other users who are paying £449 plus £75 a month have fumed at the lack of help available when they suffer connection problems.
The hands-off approach may be favoured when things are going well, but it is infuriating users who have flocked to social media and Trustpilot to share complaints.
It was reported that villagers have been forced to endure endless roadworks and temporary traffic lights as trenches have been dug and telegraph poles erected in preparation for a big digital roll out in Stocksfield, Northumberland.
Slow broadband speeds are something felt around the country, with experts telling there is ‘a lot of red tape’ around connecting these rural areas.
Scientists are worried about the potentially damaging effects of Musk’s ‘space junk’ and what it could do to the earth’s orbit
Fed up with waiting for faster broadband, some have switched to Musk’s £449 satellite internet system which helps connect the most isolated parts of the British countryside by using broadband beamed from space.
Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie, told : ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if more people go down this route just because of the wider issue of the rural broadband landscape where households and people are clearly getting left behind.’
Starlink has been hailed for providing internet in war-torn Ukraine, but astronomers fear that the devices may soon obstruct our view of the cosmos – with around 9,000 stars visible from our planet.
New research showed that low-frequency radio waves – like the ones produced by Musk’s machines – are leaking into the sky which makes it difficult for scientists to make astronomical observations.
Scientists are also concerned that Musk’s ‘space junk’ could cause an extreme collision event. The ‘Kessler syndrome’ – proposed by NASA scientist Donald Kessler in 1978 – said that if there is too much space junk in the earth’s orbit then the objects could collide and make MORE space junk. This would result in Earth’s orbit becoming unstable.