SpaceX
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"Dedicated to those who have gone before us, walk beside us, and rise up behind us in their commitment to telling the NASA story and inspiring the world's future explorers." (KSC Press Site mural)
That's the SpaceX IXPE launch in the background. At 1am (ET) Thursday, it launched from LC-39a at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It was a terrific show.
I've had this shot in mind since I first saw this mural, but all of the night launches I've viewed from the Press Site have been on a NE trajectory, so they were arching away from the mural.
I was shooting from an elevated location 60-ish seconds away, so 120-seconds or so of the 365-seconds in this exposure were spent jogging to and from the camera. Big thanks to the people at the Press Site for not disturbing the camera (they even gave me a safety cone for it).
Details: ISO100, 365-seconds at f16 with a Canon 6D and 14mm Sigma lens.
Seen from my house yesterday evening. The ejected first stage can be seen as a bright spot in the lower center of the flare (marked with a Flickr note.
This launch sent 26 more Starlink satélites into orbit.
This image was taken of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It was carrying a payload of 51 Starlink Satellites into a low orbit around the earth. The launch took place at the Vandenberg Space Base, in Lompoc, California. Surprisingly, I was able to take this photo with a Samsung cellphone...
What a beautiful site this morning along the Blue Ridge Parkway (MP 95) as the second operational SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, Crew-2, with four astronauts headed for the International Space Station flew by. It was very cool to see. If you would like to read more about it, check out this link from my friends at SpaceFlight Insider:
www.spaceflightinsider.com/.../crew-2-dragon.../
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The SpaceX Inspiration4 was launced on 9-15-21 from the Kennedy Space Center and seen from Jetty Park (81 miles away) in Fort Pierce, Florida. It was the first all-civilian crew to orbit earth.
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Boca Chica, Texas
So I took a quick road trip to the beach and this is what I found. It absolutely blew my mind. On a side note: I've never seen so many Teslas on one road.
We couldn't have asked for clearer skies for the Monday night #SpaceX #Starlink #Falcon9 launch. I've never framed a shot with the out-to-sea entry burn in mind, but the clear skies (and Declan Murphy's prediction -- more on that in a moment) made me think it would be visible. But 6-ish minutes after launch, there it was, the bright light of the first stage, descending through the atmosphere.
That's my favorite part about this photo -- the thin line above the green post in the water. There's also a bird standing on the green post, just hanging out.
I was in Titusville for this shot, looking across the Indian River at the A. Max Brewer Bridge. There was a significant crowd gathered on the bridge, and it was fun to hear the excited reaction to the launch.
My last trip to this location was back in 2017 for the SpaceX Echostar launch. This was pre-flightclub.io, and I had misjudged the trajectory generally, so I failed to realize (until I saw my shot) that the Echostar launch trajectory was basically due east, which meant my streak was just a short line, straight up. I was not pleased. But, all that was avoided with this launch. And, flightclub well-predicted the location of the entry burn, which was ultimately why I chose this location.
In terms of the anatomy of this photo, there's the first stage (the big streak), the second stage (the faint reddish streaks low on the horizon), the entry burn and 24-minutes of star trails as they spun around the sky before the launch. (The final image is a composite of 52 frames.)
And, thanks again to my We Report Space colleagues, who well-covered the launch up-close.
I took this photo in the wee hours of the morning from the beach at Sebastian Inlet State Park which is about 50 miles (ca. 80 km) south of the Kennedy Space Center. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 58 Starlink satellites and 3 Skysats into orbit successfully. The first stage also landed on the SpaceX drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. The view from the beach as the rocket launched and the satellites deployed was spectacular.
Starlink Group 11-20 Falcon 9 Block 5 Space X
Sun Sept 28th, 2025 7:04 PM
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Viewed from Sierra Vista, AZ With mysterious red lights passing by.(not blinking)
A snapshot of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket seen as it passed along the California coast. Launched from Vandenberg. I think what is seen here is just after the separation of the booster and the ignition of the second stage. One interesting thing is the booster drops off and lands back at it's drop zone to be inspected and reused. This shot was handheld, 1/30s f3.5 ISO-102,400. 28mm
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Matthias Maurer training with the SpaceX Crew Dragon cockpit in California, USA.
Credits: SpaceX
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Another view of the Dec 18 SpaceX Turksat5B Falcon9 launch, seen in a 339-sec exposure from Satellite Beach (FL).
This launch was a nice reminder of why I dislike shooting launches from the beach. Sand ends up everywhere, often on equipment that doesn't get along with sand. It was hazy and dewy. And for this shot, I had planned on setting close enough to the ocean that I'd be able to get some of the streak reflected in the water or the wet sand. The tide was going out, so I felt I was safe setting the camera fairly close to the water, but not soon after I placed the tripod and began adjusting the frame, I was drenched from the knees down by a wave. So, I moved (a bit) to higher ground and jammed the tripod into the sand to what I thought was a decent depth.
Well, I was wrong. When I checked the exposure afterward, there was a clear zig-zag in the highest part of the streak, caused by the tripod leg closest to the ocean having sunk deeper in the sand after another higher-than-expected wave had hit the tripod. I was rather vexed, so much so that I didn't even import the image (at first), and it's taken me this long to take the time to spot remove the offending zig-zag (and all the double stars). If you look closely (and obsessively, as I have been) at the top of the streak, the dim portion of the second stage (traveling toward the right of the frame) doesn't align properly.
Also, maybe of note -- the Full Moon is just out of the frame to the right, casting an otherworldly glow over the scene.
Anyway, this is the cleaned-up version, probably my last (new) rocket image of 2021, unless I've got some other ignored photos sitting on memory cards (doubtful).
Details: 339-sec exposure at ISO500 and f11 with a Canon 6D and a Rokinon 14mm lens.
On Tuesday, August 30 at 10:40pm, Falcon 9 launched 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East in Vandenberg Space Force Base. This is a six image 30-second stitch from a timelapse.
ISS047e050792 (04/10/2016) --- The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft approaches to be grappled by the International Space Station Expedition 47 crew. This view is from the Cupola where the primary controls of the Canadarm 2 are located. Crewmembers use the robotic arm to grapple the spaceship before berthing it to the Earth-facing port on the Harmony module. The spacecraft delivered about 7,000 pounds of science and research investigations, including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, known as BEAM.
The 1st launch of 2021 sure was a pretty one. This is the SpaceX Turksat5A rocket, seen in a 180-sec exposure from Palm Shores, 25-ish miles south of Cape Canaveral.
(Bonus: Birb)
Pic: me / We Report Space
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center this morning as it blew past Washington DC. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone handy!
Another view of the 11:50 pm (ET) Monday SpaceX OneWeb launch.
This from what I intended to be my "backup" camera, but I'm starting to favor it over the one I first posted (with a ton of foreground). This is a single, 472-second exposure looking out across the Mosquito Lagoon. It was a pretty but damp night.
The Space Coast Zero-G Indicator Club met last night to watch the SpaceX Starlink launch.
Earth & Tremor (probably): "Don't worry, Snoop, you'll get up there soon."
Snoopy (definitely): "You whippersnappers know I orbited the Moon, right?"
(255-second exposure by me; you can see me in the background, standing remarkably still for a 4-minute exposure)
Ça n’a peut-être l’air de rien comme ça, mais une partie de l’histoire de l’exploration est en train de se faire dans cette photo du sud du Texas – Boca Chica/Starbase ! Les ingénieurs de SpaceX y travaillent d’arrache-pied sur la fusée qui nous emmènera sur la Lune
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Yes it is tiny but great things happen here: SpaceX’s other (other) launch site in Boca Chica (I hear I’m supposed to call it Starbase now?). I couldn’t spot a Starship on the pad but maybe I wasn’t looking close enough.
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
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Saturday night lights in Satellite Beach!
SpaceX sent the Turksat5B satellite to space atop a Falcon9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL at 10:58pm (ET).
(Pic: me / We Report Space)
More launch pics: SpaceX photographer Ashish Sharma's images are always great, from spacesuit portraits to rocket launches!
Ces flammes sont la raison pour laquelle un décollage de fusée, ça se regarde plutôt DE LOIN… ou alors, il vaut mieux être à l’autre bout de l’engin Superbe photo (comme d’habitude) d’Ashish Sharma.
Credits: SpaceX
🐉🐉 2 dragons, un espoir 🇯🇵 Je n'avais jamais vu de photos montrant 2 dragons amarrés à la Station spatiale - il faut dire que c'est une configuration assez récente. Celui qui pointe vers la Terre, au dessus, c’est Endeavour, notre Crew Dragon. L’autre, c’est le cargo qui nous a apporté de la glace la semaine dernière - parmi bon nombre d’expériences scientifiques ;) Le cylindre brillant sur la droite est le laboratoire Columbus (coucou @esa 👋). Facile à reconnaitre, mais difficile à photographier depuis l’intérieur de la Station !
Kibo and the two Dragons. Got a rare shot of two Dragons docked to one module, actually I think it might be the first picture like this – although this sight will certainly become more frequent. One is our own crew dragon "Endeavour" (top, pointing at Earth) the other one is Cargo Dragon that bought us the ice cream and much, much, science! Note shiny Columbus on the right. ESA's laboratory is easy to recognise from the outside because it is so shiny –it’s made in Italy 😉, unfortunately not many pictures can be taken of it from outside!
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
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On Tuesday, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket sending Starlink satellites to space, seen here over the Indian River Lagoon from the Space Coast of Florida. This was the 99th rocket launch from the Space Coast so far this year.
(Bonus: The re-entry burn far out over the ocean is quite visible, frame right)