Just after 3 a.m. on Thursday, July 30, a Falcon 9 left Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A few minutes later, residents of Orange and Seminole counties heard a thunderclap overhead, with no storm in sight.
The noise was the rocket’s first-stage booster coming home. After lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 with the NROL-95 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, the booster turned around and landed at the Cape. Landing Zone 2 was the planned spot. The sonic boom came with it.
What flew
SpaceX had targeted 3:09 a.m. EDT and held a backup opportunity at 2:55 a.m. on Friday, but the rocket went on time, just after 3 a.m. The payload is classified, and the NRO has not said what it is.
The booster was making its seventh flight. Its earlier work covers KF-01, IMAP, NROL-77, GPS III-9, CRS-34 and one Starlink mission. That is a lot of travel for one piece of hardware.
Why it booms
A sonic boom is the sound of an object moving faster than sound. Whenever SpaceX launches or lands a booster at the Cape, people across Central Florida may hear one.
How far it carries depends on the air. Temperature, humidity and wind all play a part, so Orlando-area listeners are likelier to hear it in Florida’s warm, muggy summer than in cooler, drier winter months. A launch with a return-to-site landing, as here, can produce one or more booms.
The effect is not new. In 2023, a Falcon Heavy carrying the Jupiter 3 satellite sent its two side boosters back to Landing Zones 1 and 2 about eight minutes after liftoff, and people across Central Florida were told to expect a double boom.
Sources
- DID YOU HEAR IT? SpaceX rocket launch triggers sonic booms in Central Florida
- SpaceX launch could trigger sonic booms across Central Florida early Thursday
- Sonic booms will be heard along Florida's Space Coast following Falcon Heavy launch on Friday
