SpaceX

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39-A inside Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Thursday morning with 53 Starlink satellites for their Starlink network.

This was Booster 1069’s fifth mission overall.

Photo was taken aside the aptly named Mosquito Lagoon, and on a relatively warm winter’s night, the flying insects were out in force.

They were not the only bite-y things about — as the sound of the rocket’s engines washed over the water, a bull alligator perhaps 10-15 meters away roared his disapproval. It is said that the sub-sonic tremors that accompany any nearby rocket launch are similar to those issued by males competing with one another for territory. Undoubtedly the gator would have been foul-tempered if it had been encountered. Fortunately, that was not the case and no photographers were harmed in viewing the launch.

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A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15, 2023 at 5:56 p.m. EST (2255 GMT). The rocket was carrying a classified U.S. Space Force communications satellite and five additional military payloads as a rideshare. The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters returned to land at SpaceX’s landing zones a few miles away at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station about eight minutes after launch. 

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SpaceX launched 54 Starlink satellites this morning from Cape Canaveral, closing out the 2022 launch schedule for Florida. It was yet another picture-perfect launch.

Skies were clear enough this morning to where we could see the second stage for six-ish minutes. There’s a small gap between the end of the first stage’s powered ascent and the ignition of the second stage. My aim in this photo was to capture as much as possible of the second stage, and it succeeded from that perspective.

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In its sixth mission for July and it’s thirty-third mission of the year, SpaceX launched 53 Starlink this morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida occurred at 9:38 a.m. EDT (1338 GMT).

This was the eight flight of booster B1062.

A crowd gathered on Playalinda Beach on the Cape Canaveral National Seashore to watch Falcon 9 lift off on July 24, 2022.
(Click to enlarge ©2022 Charles Boyer)
Falcon 9 pierces the sky on its way to orbit, July 24, 2022
(Click to enlarge ©2022 Charles Boyer)
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On Thursday, July 7 at 9:11 a.m. ET, SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Falcon 9 lifts SpaceX Starlink mission off of SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 9, 2022. This was the view (cropped) from Bennett Causeway on FL-528, about 11 miles away.
©2022 Charles Boyer
(click to enlarge)
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While waiting out a long hold due to lazy thunderstorms that were lingering too close to SLC-41 to safely launch United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V set to carry the US Space Force’s payload designated as USSF-12, I grabbed a few interesting shots from the nearby launch pads.

Out at LC-39A, SpaceX is constructing its launch tower for future Starship missions.
(click for full res version)
@Charles Boyer, 2022 (CC BY 3.0 US)
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