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Satellite signatures of the SpaceX Starship Flight Test 12 launch

By Scott Bachmeier •

True Color RGB images from GOES-16 (left) and GOES-19 (right), from 2226-2331 UTC on 22 May [click to play MP4 animation]

The SpaceX Starship Flight Test 12 was launched from the Starbase facility at 2230 UTC on 22 May 2026 — and 5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-16 and GOES-19 (GOES-East) True Color RGB images created using Geo2Grid (above) showed the Super Heavy rocket booster condensation cloud as it drifted away from the South Texas coast and eastward across the Gulf of Mexico. Enhanced forward scattering from the GOES-19 satellite perspective led to a more hazy appearance of those images (GOES-16, positioned more closely overhead at 104.7 W longitude during its annual test period, was therefore not as affected by forward scattering at that time of day).

GOES-16 Rocket Plume RGB imagery (below) captured a vivid high-altitude signature of the trail of superheated water vapor (shades of yellow to lime green in the 2231 UTC image) in the wake of the Super Heavy rocket booster shortly after launch. The eastward drift of the lower-altitude rocket booster condensation cloud (darker shades of reddish-brown) was also apparent.

GOES-16 Rocket Plume RGB images, from 2226-2331 UTC on 22 May [click to play MP4 animation]

A toggle between the 2231 UTC GOES-16 Rocket Plume RGB and True Color RGB images (below) revealed that there was no corresponding signature of the high-altitude superheated water vapor trail in the True Color image — but a signature of the rocket booster condensation cloud appeared in both images, immediately off the coast.

GOES-16 Rocket Plume RGB and True Color RGB images at 2231 UTC on 22 May [click to enlarge]

Categories: Geo2Grid, GOES-16, GOES-19, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Rocket signatures