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Satellite signatures of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from California

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-18 images of ABI spectral bands 01-16, from 0859-0905 UTC on 14 January; KVBG denotes the Vandenberg CA rawinsonde site [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) images from all 16 of the ABI spectral bands (above) displayed signatures of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California at 0859 UTC on 14 January 2024. Either a reflectance signature or a warm thermal signature of the Stage 1 rocket booster was evident in images from 15 of the 16 spectral bands (Bands 02-16) — and a signature of the low-altitude rocket launch condensation cloud was seen in Shortwave Infrared and Infrared spectral bands 07-16 as it drifted eastward.

A close-up view using 16-panel displays of all GOES-18 ABI spectral bands (below) showed that either a reflectance or a thermal signature of the Stage 1 rocket booster was evident in most of the Visible and Near-Infrared bands (02/03/04/05/06) at 0900 UTC, along with a warm thermal signature in Infrared bands 07/08/09/10/16. After that time, a colder thermal signature of the rocket launch condensation cloud was seen in Bands 07-16 as it drifted eastward.

16-panel display of all GOES-18 ABI spectral bands, from 0859-0905 UTC on 14 January [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Categories: GOES-18, Rocket signatures