The roar of nine Merlin engines, precision blasts of gas thrusters and the surprisingly elegant sight of fire and fumes through grid fins. These are just a few of the highlights of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and landing from the point of view of the rocket itself.
The company shared a new angle of its most recent launch of the Argentinean Saocom 1B satellite from the rocket’s onboard camera.
We’ve seen clips like this during the dozens of SpaceX launches that have been webcast, but seeing the beginning and end of the flight in their entirety provides a different perspective.
You can watch the whole thing at the top of this post. Keep in mind that the entire flight is closer to eight minutes — the two-minute clip is just the launch and landing phase, with the main part that includes separation of the rocket’s second stage omitted. (It wouldn’t be visible from this camera angle anyhow.)
We could see another SpaceX launch as soon as next week with the company’s next planned Starlink launch.