SpaceX shared a rare video of a Falcon 9 launch earlier today, which shows a view from the rocket as it flies as part of the company's first launch of 2023. SpaceX launched the Transporter 6 mission earlier this week, which saw the company deliver 114 payloads to altitudes similar to the ones at which its Starlink satellites also operate in. The launch was the latest in a series of longer duration missions that have seen the Falcon 9's second stage fly for longer than it does for the Starlink launches.
SpaceX Shares Onboard Camera Footage From Latest Falcon 9 Launch
While SpaceX regularly live streams its launches, the camera views provided are limited to a view of the rocket from Earth, an inside view from the second stage's engine and the first stage's top and some cameras installed on the second stage. As part of its launch profile, the Falcon 9 flies for roughly three minutes most of the time before its nine first stage engines stop firing and the stage separates from the second stage. At this point, a view from the inside of the rocket is shared, with the stream then either switching to the second stage or providing a view from the camera located on the outside of the first stage.
Today's footage shows the Falcon 9's flight from liftoff to landing through the onboard camera, marking a rare moment when the rocket's post separation maneuvers are visible from an angle that a viewer would find themselves at if they were flying with it on its outside. The rocket typically separates while traveling several times faster than the speed of sound, and recent launches have also focused on the stage separation from a land camera. This shows the first and second stages autonomously racing away from each other, in a unique sight for a rocket since the Falcon 9's first stage is the only rocket capable of landing and reusability.
Onboard view from Falcon 9’s flight to space and back during smallsat rideshare mission pic.twitter.com/V5PyKxTlWD
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 5, 2023
The Transporter 6 mission saw SpaceX reuse a Falcon 9 booster for the 14th time - just two shy of its record of flying a rocket 16 times. Over the years, SpaceX has increased the times it reuses its rockets after conducting refurbishments during pre planned time durations in their lifetime. Recent launches have also increased the number of times that views from the ground cameras show the first and second stages separating from each other. This often shows both of them surrounded by the plume of exhaust from the first stage from its engines that ensure it can safely fly away from the second stage.
However, even as it continues to leave viewers in awe with the Falcon 9 despite conducting 200 launches, all eyes this year when it comes to SpaceX will be somewhere else. SpaceX is developing its Starship rocket in Texas, through which it aims to take the crown from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for flying the world's largest rocket. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) launched to Orion spacecraft for the agency's historic Artemis 1 Moon mission. Orion flew more than a million miles as part of its journey, as it also set the record for the longest distance flown by a spaceship designed for humans before returning to Earth in December.
So far, SpaceX has been periodically testing the second stage engines for Starship, with some tests of the first stage's engines also taking place. These are parts of its efforts to conduct a highly anticipated orbital test flight, but with Starship yet to perform crucial tests such as a wet dress rehearsal and a full static fire of the first stage Super Heavy booster's 33 engines, a timeline for the orbital flight is still unclear.
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