Netizens were left stunned late Thursday after a space jellyfish appeared in the skies over the US Southwest, a phenomenon that prompted many to flock online to share footage of what ultimately turned out to be the result of a SpaceX rocket launch.
Images and video shared online captured the rocket as it impressively carved its way through the atmosphere.
Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth just after 9 minutes post-launch and made a calculated landing on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You - stationed in the Pacific Ocean - which SpaceX confirmed with a short video detailing the event on their official account.
Visible in the video, the droneship is a modified barge that is outfitted with a landing platform that allows SpaceX to land boosters like the Falcon 9 at sea when they cannot carry enough fuel to return to the launch site.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk also tweeted an image of the Falcon’s upper stage as it continued to power its way to low orbit, where it deployed the Starlinks roughly 15 minutes later.
Starlink is the name of the satellite network developed by SpaceX to provide low-cost internet to remote locations. SpaceX has launched more than 3,500 satellites for Starlink, and the company hopes to eventually have over 40,000 satellites in their internet “megaconstellation."
The late Thursday launch makes 49 orbital missions in 2022 for SpaceX, nearly two thirds of which have delivered Starlink satellites into orbit.