If you’re staring skywards this evening in the UK, there’s a chance that if you’re looking in the right direction at the right time, you’ll be able to see one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets passing over on the way to launch a load of Starlink satellites.
The launch is taking place at Cape Canaveral in Florida tonight, and so long as everything goes to plan the rocket and payload of 60 new satellites will pass over the UK about 20 minutes later.
It’s a chance to see an honest-to-god space rocket in real life using only your naked eyes.
The rocket, if you’re lucky enough to spot it, should look like what the International Space Station looks like, but slightly less bright.
Then, you might see a bizarre string of lights passing uniformly overhead. No, it’s not the impending destruction of human civilisation by an invading alien force, it’s the Starlink satellite array that Musk plans to use to revolutionise the world’s internet connection.
Credit: PA
This is the 13th batch of satellites that have been launched, and has been designated as Starlink 12.
If it goes off without a hitch, there will be 800 Starlink satellites up in the Earth’s orbit by the end of today.
So, the launch will be at 19:19 BST, meaning that the rocket will pass over the United Kingdom about 20 minutes after launch.
However, the times may change slightly, it’s worth having an eye on Twitter to see what’s going on in real time.
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We’re not sure exactly how much that you’ll be able to see, as brightness and visibility aren’t yet known, but it should be fine so long as you’re not visually impaired.
Hey, it’s not every day you can see a spaceship with your bare eyes.
In case that’s not possible for you, you can also follow the launch on the internet via the SpaceX YouTube channel.
Credit: PA
Starlink aims to create a huge network of satellites that orbit at around 550km above our planet.
The plan is to deliver high-speed broadband to places that otherwise would have little to no coverage.
The company explained: “With performance that far surpasses that of traditional satellite internet, and a global network unbounded by ground infrastructure limitations, Starlink will deliver high speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable.”
Either way, keep your eyes on the skies this evening.
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