ASHEBORO N.C. (ACME NEWS) — On February 4th, 2025, at 6:13 p.m., a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, carrying a pair of WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar Technologies.
Maxar is a U.S.-based commercial space company that specializes in providing high-resolution satellite imagery.
With sunset in North Carolina occurring at 5:50 p.m. that evening, the rocket’s vapor trail was visible across much of eastern and central North Carolina, as it was backlit by the sun. The Falcon 9 launched in a northeasterly direction over the Atlantic Ocean, placing the satellites into a polar orbit.
This type of orbit allows the satellites to pass over the Earth’s poles, and as the planet rotates beneath them, their cameras can capture nearly every location on Earth.
The average number of rocket launches per year has been steadily on the rise in recent years, largely due to growing commercial interest in space.
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