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SpaceX launch of the Sentinel-6 satellite

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute images from all 16 ABI spectral bands of GOES-17 [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute images from all 16 ABI spectral bands of GOES-17 [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector images from all 16 ABI spectral bands of GOES-17 (GOES-West) showed signatures of the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket (carrying the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich satellite) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on 21 November 2020. During the first few minutes post-launch, arcing rapidly northeastward then eastward was the thermal signature of air that was superheated by the rocket exhaust, evident in all of the Near-Infrared bands (3-6) and most of the Infrared bands (7-15) — in addition to a separate signature of the low/mid-altitude booster rocket condensation cloud that was seen in all of the Infrared bands (drifting more slowly eastward, away from the launch site).

A 16-panel display of all GOES-17 ABI spectral bands during the first 11 minutes after launch is shown below.

16-panel display of all GOES-17 ABI spectral bands, 1716-1728 UTC [click to play animation | MP4]

16-panel display of all GOES-17 ABI spectral bands, 1716-1728 UTC [click to play animation | MP4]

Categories: GOES-17, Rocket signatures