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Satellite signatures of the SpaceX ViaSat-3 Americas Mission launch

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands, and a Rocket Plume RGB [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

5-minute CONUS sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) images from all 16 ABI spectral bands (above) displayed the northeast-moving warm thermal signature of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket booster as the ViaSat-3 Americas Mission was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 0025 UTC on 01 May (8:25 PM EST on 30 April 2023). The rocket launch condensation cloud was also evident in imagery from Infrared spectral bands (07-16), drifting slowly east-northward away from the launch site. One or both of these rocket launch signatures were detected by nearly all’ of the ABI spectral bands (except for Visible Band 1), as well as Plume RGB images.

A thermal signature of the rocket booster was also seen in 10-minue Full Disk sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Nighttime Microphysics RGB images frm the CSPP GeoSphere site (below).

GOES-18 Nighttime Microphysics RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Categories: GOES-16, GOES-18, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Rocket signatures