SpaceX creates huge trail over California with satellite launch (2024)

If you were watching the skies over California last night you may have witnessed an incredible sight.

A SpaceXrocket left a huge trail across the sky as it launched more Starlink satellites into orbit,bringing the total to more than 6,000.

As the Falcon 9 rocket soared overhead, everyone from pilots to festival-goers were able to see its vast contrail emerge behind.

Starlink is a constellation of satellites that aims to provide internet access to most of the Earth, particularly underserved rural areas.

But Elon Musk's project has been criticised for cluttering up orbit with machinery, adding to the problem of 'space junk'.

On social media, some reacted to the news of the launch with anger; claiming that SpaceX was only making the space debris problem worse.

One commenter on X, formerly Twitter, wrote: 'Putting junk into space is not advancing mankind.'

While another added: 'You're littering space with junk.'

Musk's company completed two launches of its reusable Falcon Heavy rockets in just one day, bringing the total number of deployed Starlink satellites in orbit to 6,673according to Starwalk.

The last flight took off at 8:47 pm PDT (04:47 UTC) on Sunday evening, just hours after another launched from Florida earlier that day.

During SpaceX's double launch, the company used two reusable Falcon Heavy rockets to carry Starlink payloads into low orbit.

Unlike other rockets, these use reusable booster stages that are capable of returning to a floating platform after separation.

The first stage booster used in the California mission had already been used 11 times in missions for Starlink, the German Military and the US Space Development Agency.

Shortly after lifting the rocket from its launch platform, the primary booster detached and made its way back down towards a waiting platform.

About eight minutes after takeoff the booster touched down on a SpaceX drone-ship called 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

And, thanks to some impressive contrails, observers on the ground were even able to watch the exact moment the booster stage separated and returned to Earth.

The impressive clouds were seen by many observers in the California area as the rocket passed overhead.

These contrails are not engine emissions or pollution, but rather a cloud formed by the rapid cooling of moist air.

Just like the jet engine on a commercial aircraft, as rockets power through the atmosphere they produce a trail or hot water vapour created by burning fuel.

As rockets pass through cold, slightly humid parts of the atmosphere, that water vapour rapidly condenses to form a white cloud.

Depending on the conditions they can last anywhere between a few seconds to several hours.

However, it was the timing of the launch that made the trail appear so clearly in the sky.

Normally the trails from a rocket are either barely visible in the day or lost in the dark during the night.

But just before dawn or just after sunset the conditions are just right to create an illuminated trail like the one seen over California this morning.

Dubbed the 'twilight phenomenon', this occurs as the rocket rises out of the dark Earth and up into the sunlight still streaming over the horizon in the high atmosphere.

From the ground, this causes the trail of ice and unburned fuel to light up in a stunning display.

SpaceX has scheduled another Falcon Heavy launch for later today, but it is unlikely to take off at the right time to benefit from the effect.

The rocket, which will carry a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration imaging satellite, has a two-hour launch window opening at5:16 pm EDT (22:16 BST).

While these trails themselves do not contain high amounts of pollutants, contrails in the aviation industry are a 'major source of pollution', NASA says.

Just like any cloud, contrails trap heat close to Earth producing localised heat effects which can impact climate change over time.

Mr Musk's satellite 'constellation' has also sparked some controversy in the scientific community over its potential to clutter space with debris.

Some experts believe that SpaceX could be 'squeezing out rivals in space' by placing thousands of satellites in a single orbital shell.

Many raise concerns that growing amounts of space junk could lead to a situation in which there is a catastrophic chain reaction of debris.

If a collision occurred in a densely populated orbit the debris could hit other satellites, creating more debris and more collisions in something called the Kessler Effect.

The company has already faced heavy criticism after China reported two 'close encounters' between Starlink satellites and Beijing's space station in 2021.

In 2023, a report by the FAA warned that debris from one of Musk's craft could kill or seriously injure someone on Earth by 2035.

SpaceX denies that there is any substance to such claims with Musk himself saying that there is room for 'tens of billions of satellites in orbit.

Mr Musk told the Financial Times: 'Space is just extremely enormous and satellites are very tiny.

'This is not some situation where we're effectively blocking others in any way. We've not blocked anyone from doing anything, nor do we expect to.'