SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch of Hughes JUPITER 3 (EchoStar 24)
On July 28, 2023, SpaceX launched a Falcon Heavy, lofting the heaviest satellite sent to a geostationary transfer orbit yet! Hughes JUPITER 3 (EchoStar 24) lifted off the pad at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, the same that launched Apollo missions, and many Shuttle missions, at 11:04pm ET.
Shortly after the two side boosters separated, they began their boost back burns, in which you can see the plasma "nebula" as the exhaust plumes from the two boosters and the center core booster interact! About 5 minutes later the two boosters landed on LZ-1 and LZ-2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. However, before that happened, they all disappeared behind some trees.
This was my view, about 130 miles from the launch site. I tracked it manually watching the screen on the camera. I was able to see it just before it cleared the trees, which helped in pointing the scope so I could capture as much as possible.
The background launch commentary was from @NASASpaceflight which I was watching on my phone.
UPDATE: Satellite deployment was successful!
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📸 Gear used:
Camera: @CanonUSA EOS M50
Telescope: @CelestronDotCom Nexstar 4SE
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