In the program the launch of the Transporter-2 mission that will send more than 100 satellites. Possible to see trails of lights, as already happened in February and May with the Starlink satellites.
It's all set for the launch of the mission Transporter-2 of SpaceX that starts June 29 at 20.56 Italian time. This is the second Transporter program and involves sending more than 100 satellites, cubesats and microsatellites in different orbits, carried by the Falcon 9 carrier rocket. In the project there is also the Italian contribution with the D-Orbit dispender that provides for the activation of the LaserCube, made by the Italian Stellar Project, a startup from Veneto born in 2016 as a spin-off of the University of Padua. The launch can be followed live online on the official channels and it is also possible to spot strange light trails in the sky, as happened also recently for similar missions.
Where to see the Falcon 9 launch
You can follow the live launch of the Transporter-2 mission on SpaceX's YouTube channel or on the website of Elon Musk's aerospace company. Among others, the launcher will also carry 10 Starlink satellites that will be placed in polar orbit. The Falcon 9 will take off from the Space Launch Complex 40 platform in Cape Canaveral, Florida and this is the second launch of the rideshare program carried out with the rocket. The Falcon 9 will head to a heliosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 550km. Aboard the launcher will be multiple satellites, as was also the case during the first launch of the rideshare program, which will then be placed in different orbits.
Previous sightings of light trails in the sky
Following the latest satellite launches, it has often happened to spot strange trails of lights in the sky. On February 10, 2021, strange phenomena were spotted in Emilia Romagna, Italy, with lights shining in the night but not seeming as far away as the stars. The objects, in reality, were a series of Starlink satellites arranged in single file, like a sort of train, that passed over the Emilian sky creating the strange shimmering. According to astrophysicist Romano Serra, with the satellite internet project that involves putting 12 thousand satellites in orbit, sighting wreaths of satellites could become increasingly frequent.
Also in May 2021, in Trentino, Veneto and many other parts of Italy, were seen sets of bright spots traveling at the apparent speed of a plane at high altitude. It was always SpaceX's Starlink artificial telecommunications satellites. As will be the case with the Transporter-2 mission, the satellites had been launched with a rocket all clustered together. For a period, following the launch into space, they remain close together and, for this reason, can be observed in series as many bright dots one attached to the other. Following the launch of Falcon 9 on June 29, it is not unlikely to be able to spot light trails caused by the passage of satellites.
On the subject of space sightings, Nasa's Chandra X-ray observatory has instead captured a mysterious "cosmic ghost hand" that would have been caused by the explosion of a supernova.