SpaceX droneship captures exquisite view of Falcon 9 launch and landing
- This stunning footage from the SpaceX droneship footage captures Falcon 9 in action
- Filmed back in 2022, it’s still in action and as busy today with a launch only this month
- The mission was labelled Intelsat G-33/G-34
Published on Mar 20, 2024 at 8:20 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Mar 21, 2024 at 7:01 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This stunning footage from the SpaceX droneship footage captured the 14th launch and landing of Falcon 9.
Filmed back in 2022, it’s still in action and as busy today with a launch taking place just this month.
The reusable craft launched the Intelsat G-33/G-34 mission on 8 October 2022.
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The 2022 mission took off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
As the ‘first orbital class rocket capable of reflight‘, this flight marked the booster’s 14th launch and landing.
And, just as the Falcon 9 lit up the sky ahead of returning to Earth earlier this month – it was a stunning display.
Posted to X by SpaceX back in October 2022, the sped-up footage was initially livestreamed from their droneship.
It was sitting around 600km (373m) off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean as the booster launched at sunset.
The light of the atmosphere reflecting off the rocket plume created a rare ‘jellyfish’ effect.
Nine minutes after it launched the screen explodes into flames as the booster lowers into view, followed by the spacecraft landing perfectly on the droneship.
Capturing the action from an entirely different, but equally stunning angle, a flight crew member accidentally caught a Falcon 9 liftoff from their seat in the sky.
The latest SpaceX mission was on 14 March and a bid to launch the world’s biggest rocket in a test to finally reach Mars.
It’s the Starship rocket’s third test from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
It measures a massive 120 meters in height (roughly).
It was the 319th launch for Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Previously SpaceX’s Dragon completed ‘splashdown’ as the Crew-7 Mission returned to Earth.
Sadly two previous attempts to fly the uncrewed spacecraft from Texas to Hawaii ended in high-altitude explosions.
The SpaceX Starship rocket was seen enveloped by plasma as it came back into Earth’s atmosphere last Thursday (14 March).
It was the third and most ambitious test flight to date.
“Watch the super hot plasma field grow as Starship re-enters the atmosphere,” Musk said to caption the video he posted to X.
According to SpaceX’s live stream commentator: “This is the furthest and fastest that Starship has ever flown”.
However, the positivity was a mixed bag as SpaceX later confirmed it lost Starship after it fell to Earth.
It’s presumed to have landed in the Indian Ocean as planned.
What that likely means is that the Starship broke up as it came down and wasn’t able to perform a bellyflop at speed as planned.
The mission has already been deemed a success, getting well beyond the milestones achieved on the two previous test flights last year.
All 33 engines at the base of the booster fired up and took the vehicle to the anticipated staging point.
“The ship has been lost. So no splashdown today,” said SpaceX’s Dan Huot shortly after.
“But again, it’s incredible to see how much further we got this time around.”
“SpaceX has come a long way,” Musk added.
There’s still a long way to go, though.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
