You need homefries with these launch photographs?
SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket livened up the breakfast hour on Wednesday (Jan. 18) with the flawless launch of a complicated GPS satellite to orbit.Â
Elon Musk‘s firm lately released photos (opens in new tab) of the 7:24 a.m. EST (1224 GMT) liftoff, and so they’re gorgeous, displaying the workhorse rocket climbing to orbit with the rising sun simply behind the Atlantic Ocean-facing pad at Cape Canaveral House Drive Station in Florida.Â
Mere minutes after the epic pictures had been taken, the refurbished Falcon 9 first-stage booster aced its touchdown on a drone ship at sea because the GPS III satellite soared to its switch orbit for the U.S. Space Force.
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As you may see within the full-length launch video beneath, the Falcon 9 first stage separated as deliberate from the higher stage at 2 minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff from House Launch Complicated 40 at Cape Canveral.
Then, lower than 9 minutes after launch, the booster flew again to Earth for a smooth landing on the SpaceX drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” enabling the rocket to be recycled for future missions.
The early-morning launch was seen throughout the House Coast of Florida and attracted views from a number of photographers primarily based within the space. Some captured it utilizing distant cameras on the pad, whereas others stationed themselves at viewing areas surrounding the launch web site to {photograph} the dawn launch.
These are photographs taken by my distant cameras left on the pad a day forward of #GPS ll 6 launching this morning atop a #SpaceX #Falcon9. 📸: @theresacross_ @SpaceflightIns pic.twitter.com/ehOeCUXPCsJanuary 19, 2023
Golden Dawn Soar to House for #SpaceX House Drive Falcon 9 launch of GPS 3 SV06 navsat at 724 AM ET brief whereas in the past from pad 40 with VAB at left. with chicken flock fluttering overhead. @SpaceForceDoD @LockheedMartin. Seen from Indian River at Max Brewer Bridge pic.twitter.com/zrdY4XmvICJanuary 18, 2023
Another from @spacex #GPS launch this morning 🙂 #spacecoast #floridabeaches #cocoabeach @FarryFaz pic.twitter.com/yKdihimR1lJanuary 18, 2023
The launch was SpaceX’s fourth of 2023. Only a day later, the corporate went to space once more from the other coast of the USA.
SpaceX despatched 51 of its Starlink web satellites to orbit on Thursday (Jan. 19) at 10:43 a.m. EST on one other Falcon 9Â rocket, this one rising from California’s Vandenberg House Drive Base. The primary stage nailed the touchdown on this booster’s debut flight, on SpaceX’s different drone ship, “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You.”
 Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a e book about space drugs. Comply with her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
