On Saturday, May 14 at 4:40 p.m. ET, SpaceX launched Starlink satellites to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Click for three more photos…
SpaceX Starlink 4-15 Launch, May 14, 2022
Newspaper Account of the First Launch at Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950
At the end of World War II, Cape Canaveral was a quiet, sleepy place. The fishing village wasn’t much of a tourist destination, Banana River Naval Air Station was in disuse, and would close in September 1947 where it would be placed in a caretaker status.
That would change, however, on September 1, 1948, when the former naval air station was transferred to the newly formed US Air Force. In 1949, it was renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground, and was designated as the launch point for the military’s efforts to develop long range missile weapons.
It took until July 1950 for a rocket launch to happen at the new JLRPG. According to the NASA/US Army publication NIX 66P-0631, GPN-2000-000613:
“Bumper 8 was an ambitious two-stage rocket program that topped a V-2 missile base with a WAC Corporal rocket. The upper stage was able to reach then-record altitudes of almost 400 kilometers, higher than even modern Space Shuttles flown many years later. Launched under the direction of the General Electric Company, the Bumper Project was used primarily for testing rocket systems and for research on the upper atmosphere. Bumper rockets carried small payloads that allowed them to measure attributes including air temperature and cosmic ray impacts.”
Video of Starlink 4-16, April 29, 2022
I set up my GoPro on the beach to record the scene on Playalinda Beach when SpaceX launched Starlink 4-16.
I set up for a wide angle view to capture the entire first stage portion of the flight — it made everything look further away than it actually was, but all in all, yeah, this is what its like to see a launch from here.
Playalinda is far better for launches from Pad LC-39A, as it is much closer than SLC-40 or SLC-41, but overall, it’s still a really good place to come. After all, you’re on one of the most beautiful beaches in Florida, and it’s really not crowded, even when the parking lots are full.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 4-14, April 21, 2022
Some Days You’re The Bug, Some Days You’re The Windshield
From the Port St. John Boat Ramp, located just off of US-1 in between Cocoa and Titusville: I’ve taken some really good night-time streak shots here, and wanted to check it out for a daytime launch, mainly because it’s just off of US-1 and really convenient.
Launch day was iffy from a weather standpoint: a cold front was slowing passing through the Space Coast region, and the ground winds were on the upper ends of SpaceX’s safety limits. After a delay in the morning to the afternoon to let the winds die down, the range was green. Skies were mostly cloudy, with thin, broken clouds showing gaps of blue.
Launch
The rocket lifted off perfectly and on-time at 1:51pm local time, and was another mission well executed. If only the photographer (me) had done his job that well!
SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 4-14, April 21, 2022
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Photo © 2022 Charles Boyer
The photo above is…okay…but it is not really anything write home about. I’m still chasing down a noise issue somewhere in the camera, and my fear is that it is just a characteristic of the sensor and firmware that I am going to have to live with. The only cure? A better camera. That will happen eventually.
The real issue, however, came from the site itself. As you can see below, there is a power pole that is perfectly situated on the line from the piers to SLC-40 out on CCSFS. After liftoff, that made itself glaringly apparent:
From the center pier, the Falcon 9 was perfectly blocked by a distant power pole as it rose into the sky. Look carefully and you can see the flames near the top of the pole, with the payload fairing peeking from its top. No wonder I was having so much trouble finding it before liftoff!
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Photo © 2022 Charles Boyer
No worries, lesson learned and now I know what this doesn’t make anyone else’s list for launch viewing sites. It’s different for United Launch Alliance shots, because SLC-41 is at a slightly different angle. For SpaceX SLC-40 viewing, especially for photography, I would recommend other places.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 4-14, April 21, 2022
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Photo © 2022 Charles Boyer
As I mentioned earlier, there were a lot of clouds in the sky, and the best photos were made when Falcon9 was briefly visible in the gaps in between them.
At the end of the day, however, I got to see another rocket launching to orbit, and that’s nothing but a Good Thing™.
SpaceX Falcon 9 / Transporter 4 Launch, April 1 2022
As seen from the Bennett Causeway on the Banana River in Cape Canaveral.
The weather was quite iffy until the final hour before liftoff — in fact, there was a tornado warning nearby with heavy rain to start the morning. The skies dried and clouds lifted just enough for Falcon 9 to thread through them and head to space.
(Click to enlarge)
Photo ©2022 Charles Boyer / Creative Commons-Attribution license
As you might guess, photography conditions were not ideal, with flat, dull light, but this photo came out decently enough. Not long after liftoff, more rain came into the area, albeit with less lightning, thunder and high winds.
Later that evening, I was able to see SLC-40 from the sea as the sun was about to set. Again, serendipity gave us a break in the clouds and we were able to see the sun peaking through as it fell towards the horizon. The pad was busy as SpaceX workers began to recycle it post-launch, and it was lit brightly into the night as they continued their tasks.
Perhaps not the most glorious of late afternoon light, the clouds serendipitously gave a glimpse of color as we rode by Space Launch Complex 41 six hours after a launch.
(Click to enlarge)
Photo ©2022 Charles Boyer / Creative Commons-Attribution license
Atlas V – GOES-T Launch, March 1, 2022
United Launch Alliance launched the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-T advanced weather satellite for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at 4:28pm local time on an Atlas V 541 from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).
Photo ©2022 Charles Boyer / Creative Commons-Attribution license
You can clearly see the strap-on boosters falling away from the main rocket — this is not an uncommon sight when the lighting is right.
Photo ©2022 Charles Boyer / Creative Commons-Attribution license
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