The US Earth remote sensing satellite sent images of the launch and explosion of the Starship, which was due to fly in space for the first time the day before. The satellite was also able to capture the infrared trail from the Super Heavy rocket engines.
The first test flight of the Starship spacecraft from the American company SpaceX ended with partial success the day before. The whole world watched the images of the launch and the explosion, but the explosion of this largest and most powerful rocket in the history of astronautics was also visible from space.
The geostationary satellite GOES-16, located at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, which is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, could make such shots. Geostationary satellites “suspend” above a point on Earth, so the GOES-16 device is able to take detailed pictures of the eastern seaboard of the United States.
Satellite images clearly show powerful puffs of smoke from the launch of the rocket, which are carried by the wind towards the Atlantic Ocean. As previously reported, having reached a height of 39 kilometers, after three minutes of flight the ship could not separate from the first floor, their group began to fall and finally exploded following an order given from Earth.
Satellite images show a small white speck that separated from puffs of smoke shortly after liftoff and then descended toward the ocean surface.
“Even though the craft did not make it to orbit, it put on a great fireworks display,” wrote British Earth observation scientist Simon Proud, who circulated the images.
The weather forecasting satellite’s cameras were also able to capture the infrared trail from the working engines of Musk’s rocket as it lifted off. The photographs show a red dot at the rocket’s launch site, which turns green as the temperature of the gases rises, rises and then falls into the ocean.
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