The May sky continues to amaze Ukrainians with bright nighttime spectacles. Shortly after the outbreak of the superbird, a new unusual phenomenon could be observed last night over Kyiv and some other regions.
The night sky was decorated with a light circle that resembled an eye. In some cases, it also had two spiral arms that diverged from the central part of the circle. According to the channel Alpha CentauriThis is how the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 carrier looked like.
It should be noted that on May 2, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a pair of Maxar Intelligence satellites commissioned by WorldView Legion. The launch took place from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 21:36 Kyiv time. And at approximately 22:50 Kyiv time, the second stage of the Falcon 9 was exactly where this object was observed in the sky — in the northwest.
The first two Maxar-1 satellites are designed for Earth observation. Each of them has powerful cameras capable of capturing precise images of small objects and features on the Earth’s surface. They provide a resolution of 30 cm. In total, the company plans to deploy a fleet of 6 such satellites. Thanks to their high resolution, they are expected to triple Maxar’s ability to collect high-quality images and map the planet.
The Maxar-1 satellite launch mission was the 20th flight of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket. It was SpaceX’s 44th launch in 2024 and the 328th launch of a Falcon 9. After separation of the first stage, approximately 8.5 minutes after takeoff, it returned to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg, making it the 303rd landing of a SpaceX launch vehicle.
The deployment of the satellites was successful and they began receiving and sending signals.