Theres-a-rocket-launch-visible-over-the-UK-on-Thursday-heres-how-you-can-see-it

SpaceX is launching another rocket from Florida carrying 60 Starlink satellites, A rocket launch in America on Thursday night could be visible in the UK.

SpaceX, the US space transportation company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is launching another batch of satellites on Thursday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Sitting on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, they will lift off from the same complex which sent the Apollo astronauts into space at around 9.39pm UK time (4.39pm US time).

Around 15 minutes later rocket launch, the final stage of the rocket and its cargo should be visible to the naked eye as it passes over the UK from West to East, according to website MeteorWatch.

It will appear similar to the International Space Station as it crosses the sky – a bright dot, and fast-moving. A plan of the route posted online shows it tracking further to the south of the UK, but it may be visible across the whole of the UK.138208672551

You are advised to give yourself a bit of leeway either side of the times if you head outside to spot it, as it may vary depending on factors on the day.

Over the next few nights, you are also likely to be able to see the train of 60 Starlink satellites launched from the spacecraft – the latest batch to join the hundreds of communication satellites in low earth orbit. The aim for SpaceX is to have thousands in the sky, and provide global satellite internet access.

This is the latest launch by SpaceX, which has been busy recently. At the end of May, they launched their first two astronauts into space to join the International Space Station. Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were the first astronauts to lift off from US soil since the end of the Space Shuttle programme almost a decade ago.

Originally Publish at: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/