January 5, 2023 | ISSUE 57

Falcon 9 liftoff • January 3, 2023 • Courtesy of SpaceX

In this week’s issue: We unpack 2023’s first rocket launch; floods pummel California; and China constructs a checkpoint along the border with Nepal.

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FEATURE STORY

Liftoff

Happy New Year and welcome back to Snapshots. Like most of you we’re still getting back in the rhythm of work, so we’re keeping this issue brief but no less exciting. In case you missed the news, the New Year’s countdown was shortly followed by a countdown to 2023’s first rocket launch—an event our editor enthusiastically attended.

Falcon 9 a few seconds after liftoff • Courtesy of SpaceX

This Tuesday we launched 36 SuperDove satellites, our Flock 4y, into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Our team established contact with all of them, marking Planet’s 32nd successful launch and totaling over 500 satellites put into orbit since our founding.

Falcon 9 courtesy of SpaceX

When in orbit, our Doves slip off the ship into empty space, like a skydiver. And once they’re moving at the brisk pace of 7.6km/s (4.7 mi/s) our team makes contact and ensures everything is operating as it’s supposed to. Then we can slow them down, deploy their solar-array panels, and get everything updated and calibrated. A few more tweaks later and they start popping out the images we all know and love.

A SuperDove entering orbit • Courtesy of SpaceX

This most recent launch took place in Cape Canaveral, an alligator-swamped piece of eastern Florida that is both a wildlife refuge and a historic site for space exploration. Some of the world’s most famous space launches—from the iconic-looking Space Shuttle to the moon-landing Apollo missions—took off and were managed at the Kennedy Space Center.

Where the big rockets are built • Vehicle Assembly Building, Kennedy Space Center

SkySat • NASA Artemis, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA • March 18, 2022

The Falcon 9 rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 40 where guests watched from a site a few miles away. Our editor was among them, without sunglasses but with a shaky camera in hand and starry-awe in his seared-like-tuna-steak-eyeballs.

Falcon 9 a few seconds after liftoff

We love heralding the new year the best we know how: with a launch. And as we launch the new year of Snapshots, we made a resolution to deliver the best possible newsletter to your inbox each week. In order to do that we’d love to hear from you, so keep an eye out for a reader poll in the coming weeks and we wish you the best year ahead!

Falcon 9, the tiny speck in the photo’s top center, leaves behind a plume on its way to space

California Flooding

The natural disaster calendar year is off to a heady start as a series of atmospheric rivers pounded parts of California with record rainfall (or in common parlance, “it’s hella rainy”). Atmospheric rivers are linked to La Niña periods and can move more water than the mouth of the Mississippi River. And while the immense rainfall will likely help relieve drought within the state, for now floods, landslides, power outages, and other hazards are a far more pressing concern.

PlanetScope • Flooding in Elk Grove, California • December 28, 2022 - January 1, 2023

High-Elevation Checkpoint

A thousand-year-old link along the Silk Road is getting an update. Nepal’s Mustang District is a 15,000-foot (4,600 m) high valley that connects the country to China. According to a recent National Geographic article on the opening of Mustang, construction along the border began in anticipation of a route that would link China to Kathmandu through Kora La. As of early 2023, however, the road on the Nepali side of the border remained unfinished. The images show China’s construction of the checkpoint since March 2021.

SkySat • Border Facility, China/Nepal • March 29, 2021 - December 1, 2022

Weekly Revisit

Our weekly revisit 2 weeks ago was more of a yearly revisit as we looked back at some of 2022’s most defining images. So brush up on the roller-coaster of images before we steam full-powered ahead into the new year.