LaunchDetect Blog

Where to Watch the Artemis II Reentry and Splashdown Live -- April 10, 2026

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Four humans are falling back to Earth from the Moon right now. On Friday evening, NASA’s Orion spacecraft will slam into the atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour – the fastest crewed reentry in history – and you can watch it happen from 22,000 miles above the Pacific. LaunchDetect is tracking Artemis II’s return in real time with satellite thermal imagery, and the reentry event is already queued and waiting for you.

The Mission So Far

Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026, carrying four astronauts on the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The crew:

Reid Wiseman – NASA astronaut and mission commander
Victor Glover – NASA astronaut and pilot, the first Black astronaut to travel this far from Earth
Christina Koch – NASA mission specialist, the first woman to venture beyond low Earth orbit
Jeremy Hansen – Canadian Space Agency mission specialist, the first non-American astronaut to fly beyond low Earth orbit

On April 6, the crew flew behind the Moon, passing just 4,070 miles above the lunar surface and breaking the farthest-human-spaceflight record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. During the flyby, they witnessed a solar eclipse from deep space as Orion, the Moon, and the Sun aligned – the Sun disappearing behind the Moon for nearly an hour.

Now the crew is on the homebound leg, and Friday is the day it all comes down to physics, heat, and parachutes.

Reentry and Splashdown Timeline

Splashdown date: Friday, April 10, 2026

Splashdown time: Approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT / 5:07 p.m. PDT

Splashdown location: Pacific Ocean, approximately 50-60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, California

Recovery ship: USS John P. Murtha

Here is the sequence of events for reentry day:

Time	Event
Several hours before splashdown	Crew dons pressure suits and compression garments for reentry
~30 min before entry	Orion’s service module separates from the crew module and is jettisoned
Entry interface (~400,000 ft)	Orion hits the upper atmosphere at approximately 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h)
Peak heating	Heat shield endures temperatures up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit
Communications blackout	Plasma envelope blocks all radio contact for several minutes
Drogue chute deployment	Two drogue parachutes slow the capsule to ~300 mph
Main chute deployment	Three main parachutes deploy, slowing Orion to ~17 mph
Splashdown (~8:07 p.m. EDT)	Orion hits the Pacific Ocean off San Diego
Recovery (~2 hours post-splash)	Crew helicoptered to USS John P. Murtha at Naval Base San Diego

This is a direct-entry profile – no skip reentry. After heat shield erosion was observed during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, NASA modified the trajectory for Artemis II to use a steeper descent angle, reducing time in the thermal environment. The result is a shorter downrange landing and a more intense but briefer heating pulse. The 16.5-foot-wide AVCOAT heat shield will absorb the full force of a 25,000 mph atmospheric entry in a single pass.

Watch the Reentry From Orbit on LaunchDetect

Every other option for watching this splashdown puts you on the ground, looking up – or worse, watching a simulation graphic on a cable news broadcast while a host narrates over it. You see an animation of a capsule, not the actual event.

LaunchDetect puts you above the reentry, looking down.

When Orion’s heat shield lights up the upper atmosphere on Friday evening, LaunchDetect’s satellite thermal detection pipeline will be watching from geostationary orbit. The system ingests infrared imagery from GOES-18 and GOES-19 – the same satellites that weather forecasters and military space operators use – and processes it in real time to detect and track thermal events across the Western Hemisphere. A capsule reentering at 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit over the Pacific is exactly the kind of event this system was built to see.

Here is what LaunchDetect gives you for $3/month:

Satellite thermal imagery of the reentry – See Orion’s thermal signature as it screams through the atmosphere, rendered in infrared from the perspective of space itself. This is not a simulation. This is actual satellite data, processed in real time.
Interactive 3D globe with trajectory tracking – Watch the reentry corridor stretch from deep space down to the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. Rotate the globe. Zoom into the splashdown zone. Trace the descent path in three dimensions.
Real-time event detection – Know the moment the thermal signature appears in the satellite data. Watch detection confidence update live as the capsule tears through the atmosphere.
Full mission countdown – The Artemis II splashdown countdown is already ticking on LaunchDetect. Every mission worldwide, counted down to the second.
Live launch chat – Share the moment with other users watching the same orbital view. Talk through the blackout period, the parachute deployment, and the splashdown as it happens.
Launch prediction catalog – See what else is coming after Artemis II. The next launches are already queued.

This orbital vantage point was not available to the public until LaunchDetect built it. For the Artemis I uncrewed test flight in 2022, this view existed only inside government operations centers. Now it is in your browser for the cost of two coffees a month.

For organizations, defense analysts, and researchers, the Business plan at $100/month adds historical detection archives, the Data Gateway REST API, live detection webhooks, and API key management.

Where Else to Watch

NASA is providing extensive live coverage across multiple platforms:

NASA+ – NASA’s free, ad-free streaming service. No subscription required. Available on iOS, Android, web browsers, Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV.
NASA YouTube – 24/7 mission coverage on NASA’s YouTube channel.
NASA Live – Live stream directly from NASA’s website.
Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Roku – NASA’s live broadcast is syndicated across major streaming platforms.
San Diego Air & Space Museum – If you are in Southern California, the museum is hosting a public watch party for the splashdown.

NASA’s broadcast will feature Mission Control commentary, camera feeds from recovery ships, and helicopter footage of the capsule under parachutes. That coverage is excellent – and LaunchDetect complements it with something NASA does not show: the satellite thermal view from geostationary orbit. Use both. Watch the NASA stream for crew comms and recovery footage. Watch LaunchDetect for the orbital infrared perspective that shows you the reentry the way a satellite analyst sees it.

Why This Reentry Matters

No human has reentered Earth’s atmosphere from lunar distance since 1972. The Apollo astronauts did it six times. Then the capability went dormant for 54 years.

On Friday, it comes back.

The physics of a lunar return are fundamentally different from the reentries we have grown accustomed to watching. When a Crew Dragon returns from the International Space Station, it enters the atmosphere at roughly 17,000 mph. Orion will hit the atmosphere at 25,000 mph – nearly 50 percent faster. That difference is not linear in its consequences. The thermal energy scales with the square of velocity, meaning the heat shield will absorb roughly twice the energy of a low Earth orbit reentry. The plasma sheath will be hotter, the communications blackout will be longer, and the margin for error will be thinner.

This is also the first time NASA’s modified direct-entry profile will be tested with a crew aboard. Artemis I proved the capsule could survive reentry, but the heat shield erosion prompted trajectory changes that have never been flown crewed. Friday is the validation.

Four people – the first woman, the first Black astronaut, and the first non-American to fly beyond Earth orbit – are betting their lives on the engineering. That is worth watching. And it is worth watching properly.

Set Your Reminder

8:07 p.m. EDT / 5:07 p.m. PDT on Friday, April 10. Open LaunchDetect and pull up the 3D globe. Center it on the Pacific coast. Tune in to NASA’s broadcast for crew comms and recovery cameras.

When Orion’s heat shield hits the atmosphere and the thermal signature blooms across the Pacific in satellite infrared, you will not be watching an animation on a news broadcast. You will be watching from orbit – seeing the hottest, fastest crewed reentry in human history the way a geostationary satellite sees it, in real time, from 22,000 miles above the ocean.

The first humans to return from the Moon in 54 years deserve more than a ground camera. Watch from the sky.

Where to Watch the CRS-24 Cygnus Launch to the ISS -- April 8, 2026

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Forget the ground camera. On Wednesday, April 8, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 hurls Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft toward the International Space Station, you can watch from 22,000 miles above the launch pad – seeing the thermal signature of the rocket as it climbs through the atmosphere, the trajectory corridor stretching out over the Atlantic, and the launch site at Cape Canaveral rendered in infrared from the perspective of space itself. LaunchDetect makes that possible for $3/month. Until now, this orbital vantage point was reserved for government space agencies and military satellite operators. Now it is yours.

Mission Details

The CRS-24 spacecraft has been named the S.S. Steven R. Nagel, honoring the late NASA astronaut who flew four Space Shuttle missions and logged more than 720 hours in space. This is the 24th commercial resupply flight under NASA’s partnership with Northrop Grumman, and the Cygnus XL vehicle is packed with approximately 11,000 pounds of cargo bound for the station.

Among the science payloads riding uphill:

Cold Atom Lab upgrade – A new module for NASA’s quantum physics facility on the station, advancing research that could reshape computing technology and deepen our understanding of dark matter.
Stem cell production hardware – Equipment designed to produce therapeutic stem cells in microgravity, targeting treatments for blood diseases and cancer.
Gut microbiome experiment – Model organisms that will help researchers study how spaceflight affects the digestive system – crucial data for future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
Space weather receiver – An instrument that could improve the models protecting GPS, radar, and communications infrastructure from solar storms.

Once at the station, astronauts will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple the Cygnus on Friday, April 10, and berth it to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port. The spacecraft will remain attached through October before departing with trash and burning up during reentry.

When and Where

Launch date: Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Launch time: 8:49 a.m. EDT / 5:49 a.m. PDT / 12:49 UTC

Backup window: Thursday, April 9, at 8:26 a.m. EDT

Launch site: Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5

The Falcon 9 first stage supporting this mission is flying for the seventh time. It previously launched the Axiom-4 private astronaut mission, Crew-11, NG-23, and three Starlink flights.

Watch From Orbit on LaunchDetect

Think about how you have watched every launch up to this point. You open a stream, stare at a single ground camera pointed at the pad, watch the rocket shrink into a dot, and then – nothing. The rocket disappears into the sky and you sit there refreshing a feed, hoping someone in a comment section tells you whether stage separation happened. You are watching from the ground, looking up, and the moment the rocket clears the tower your view is effectively over.

Now flip the perspective entirely.

LaunchDetect puts you above the launch, not below it. You are looking down at Earth from the vantage point of geostationary satellites – the same orbital perspective that space agencies use to monitor launch activity worldwide. When that Falcon 9 ignites at SLC-40 on Wednesday morning, you will see the thermal bloom appear on the Florida coast in satellite infrared imagery, frame by frame, as the rocket punches through the atmosphere. You will watch the trajectory corridor arc out over the Atlantic on an interactive 3D globe. You will see the launch unfold the way satellite operators see it – from space, looking down, with the full picture of what is happening across the globe.

This is not a camera feed. This is the actual view from orbit.

Until recently, this kind of orbital awareness was locked behind classified systems and government clearances. LaunchDetect brings it to your browser for $3/month – the Silver plan that turns every launch into something you have never experienced before:

Satellite thermal imagery, frame by frame – See the infrared heat signature of the rocket as it launches. This is what a rocket looks like from space. No other public platform on Earth shows you this.
Interactive 3D globe with trajectory tracking – Follow the Falcon 9 as it arcs from Cape Canaveral out over the Atlantic. Rotate the globe. Zoom into the launch site. Trace the trajectory corridor. This is not a static map – it is a living model of the flight rendered on a three-dimensional Earth.
Real-time detection as it happens – Know the moment the rocket clears the tower. Watch confidence scoring update in real time as the mission unfolds overhead.
Launch prediction catalog – Know what is launching before the rest of the internet catches up. Stop finding out about launches from someone else’s retweet.
Live launch chat – Talk through the countdown, stage separation, and drone ship landing with people who are watching the same orbital view you are.
Every launch, every spaceport, one dashboard – The CRS-24 countdown is already ticking. Every mission worldwide, counted down to the second. Never scramble for a launch time again.

Think about what you pay for streaming services that show you reruns. For $3/month, you get the power to observe every launch on Earth from the sky – satellite thermal imagery, orbital trajectory tracking, and real-time detection that was previously reserved for government space agencies. This is not entertainment. This is the actual operational view from 22,000 miles up, and it costs less than the coffee you will be drinking at 5:49 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday morning.

For organizations and power users, the Business plan at $100/month adds historical detection archives, the Data Gateway REST API, live detection webhooks, and API key management.

What to Expect

Here is the timeline for launch day:

Time (EDT)	Event
T-38 min	SpaceX launch director verifies go for propellant loading
T-35 min	RP-1 and liquid oxygen loading begins
T-1 min	Flight computer takes over final countdown
T-0	Liftoff from SLC-40
T+2:30	First stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
T+2:33	Stage separation
T+2:40	Second stage engine ignition
T+3:10	Fairing separation
T+8:30	First stage landing on drone ship
T+9:00	Second stage engine cutoff (SECO)
T+11:20	Cygnus spacecraft separation

After separation, the Cygnus will spend about two days performing orbital maneuvers and systems checkouts before approaching the station for capture on April 10.

Why This Mission Matters

ISS resupply missions sometimes fly under the radar, but CRS-24 is delivering hardware that pushes the boundaries of what the station can do – from quantum physics experiments that could reshape fundamental physics to stem cell research targeting cancer treatment. All of it rides on a booster making its seventh flight. That combination of cutting-edge science and routine reusability is exactly why this launch is worth watching – and worth watching properly.

Set a reminder for 8:49 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 8. Open LaunchDetect and pull up the 3D globe. When the Falcon 9 lights up, you will not be squinting at a ground camera hoping to catch a glimpse before the rocket vanishes into the clouds. You will be watching from orbit – seeing the thermal signature bloom across the Florida coast, tracking the trajectory as it stretches over the Atlantic, watching the S.S. Steven R. Nagel begin its journey to the station the way satellite operators have always seen it.

Don’t watch this launch from the ground. Watch it from the sky.

Where to Watch the Starlink Group 17-35 Launch -- April 6, 2026

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A brand-new Falcon 9 booster rolls to the pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday afternoon – and you do not have to be standing on a hillside along the Central Coast to see it fly. LaunchDetect lets you watch the Starlink Group 17-35 launch from 22,000 miles above the California coastline, tracking the rocket’s thermal signature in satellite infrared as it arcs southward over the Pacific on a polar trajectory. The view from orbit is open to anyone for $3/month. Until now, it belonged to government satellite operators. Now it is yours.

Mission Details

Starlink Group 17-35 is the latest deployment in SpaceX’s relentless buildout of its global broadband constellation. A Falcon 9 Block 5 will carry 25 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into a polar low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg. These V2 Mini satellites are the workhorse of the current-generation constellation – compact enough to fly 25 per mission yet equipped with more powerful antennas, improved laser inter-satellite links, and greater throughput than their v1.5 predecessors.

The polar orbit targeted by this mission is critical for filling coverage gaps at high latitudes. While most Starlink traffic rides on satellites launched from Cape Canaveral into 53-degree-inclination orbits, polar-orbit shells launched from Vandenberg sweep over the Arctic, Antarctic, and every remote latitude in between. These satellites will be deployed at roughly 290 km altitude before raising themselves to an operational shell near 530 km using onboard ion thrusters over the weeks that follow.

SpaceX has now surpassed 10,000 simultaneous operational Starlink satellites in orbit as of March 2026. This mission adds another 25 to that count.

When and Where

Launch date: Sunday, April 6, 2026

Launch window: 4:03 p.m. – 8:03 p.m. PDT / 7:03 p.m. – 11:03 p.m. EDT / 23:03 – 03:03 UTC

Launch site: Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5

Booster: Maiden flight – the first launch for this first-stage booster, which will attempt a landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You stationed in the Pacific Ocean roughly eight minutes after liftoff.

This mission has slipped several days from its original target, so the window above reflects the latest available schedule. If weather or technical issues intervene, a backup opportunity exists on Monday, April 7.

Watch From the Sky on LaunchDetect

Here is what watching a Vandenberg launch usually looks like: you pull up a stream, squint at a pad camera two miles away, watch the Falcon 9 shrink into a white dot against the California sky, and then it is gone. You sit there wondering if stage separation happened, if the booster is heading back, if the satellites deployed. You are stuck on the ground, looking up, and your view ended thirty seconds after ignition.

Now imagine the opposite.

LaunchDetect puts you above the Pacific, looking down. When the nine Merlin engines ignite at SLC-4E on Sunday afternoon, you will see a thermal bloom appear on the California coastline in satellite infrared imagery – frame by frame, the way analysts at a space operations center would see it. You will watch the Falcon 9’s trajectory corridor stretch southward over the Pacific on an interactive 3D globe, tracing the polar arc that most viewers never visualize. You will know the moment the rocket clears the pad, and you will still be tracking it long after every ground camera has lost sight.

This orbital perspective used to live behind security clearances and government terminals. LaunchDetect put it in a browser and priced it at $3/month.

The Silver plan is everything you need to experience launches the way they were meant to be seen – from space:

Frame-by-frame satellite thermal imagery – The infrared heat signature of a Falcon 9 as seen from orbit. No other public platform on the planet shows you this.
3D trajectory tracking on an interactive globe – Watch the polar-orbit insertion arc from Vandenberg southward across the Pacific. Rotate, zoom, understand the full flight path in three dimensions.
Real-time event detection – Know the instant the engines light. Watch detection confidence update live as the mission progresses.
Launch prediction catalog – Stop finding out about launches from someone’s retweet. See what is coming before the rest of the internet catches up.
Complete launch schedule with countdowns – Every mission worldwide, ticking down to the second. The Starlink 17-35 countdown is already running.
Live launch chat – Share the moment with people watching the same orbital view you are.

Three dollars a month. That is less than a single lunch, less than one month of most streaming services, and it gives you the ability to observe every launch on Earth from an orbital vantage point that did not exist for the public until LaunchDetect built it.

For organizations, defense analysts, and power users, the Business plan at $100/month unlocks historical detection archives, the Data Gateway REST API, live detection webhooks, and API key management.

What to Expect

Here is the launch day timeline:

Time	Event
T-38 min	SpaceX launch director polls for go/no-go on propellant loading
T-35 min	RP-1 and liquid oxygen loading begins
T-7 min	Falcon 9 engine chill sequence
T-1 min	Flight computer takes command of final countdown
T-0	Liftoff from SLC-4E
T+1:12	Max aerodynamic pressure (Max-Q)
T+2:30	First stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
T+2:33	Stage separation
T+2:40	Second stage Merlin Vacuum engine ignition
T+6:20	First stage entry burn
T+8:20	First stage landing on Of Course I Still Love You
T+8:50	Second stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
T+~57 min	Starlink satellite deployment

After deployment, the 25 V2 Mini satellites will separate in a train formation and gradually raise their orbits from the initial insertion altitude to their operational shell over the following weeks using Hall-effect ion thrusters.

A New Booster Takes Flight

Sunday marks a maiden voyage – the first flight ever for this Falcon 9 first stage. New boosters are always worth watching. Every component is flying for the first time, every weld joint is seeing flight loads for the first time, and if the landing succeeds, this booster joins SpaceX’s reusable fleet for years of service ahead. SpaceX has been averaging more than a launch per week in 2026, and fresh boosters entering the fleet are what keep that pace sustainable.

Set a reminder for 4:03 p.m. PDT on Sunday, April 6. Open LaunchDetect, pull up the 3D globe, and center it on the California coast. When ignition comes, you will not be watching a dot vanish into the sky from a ground camera. You will be watching from orbit – seeing the thermal signature of a brand-new Falcon 9 bloom on the coastline, tracking its polar trajectory as it sweeps southward over the Pacific, and following 25 satellites as they begin their climb to join a constellation of more than ten thousand.

Don’t watch this launch from the ground. Watch it from the sky.