Booster from SpaceX launch of Falcon 9 from Florida lands off coast of The Bahamas

SpaceX launches 20-plus Starlink satellites

SpaceX issued a warning for residents and visitors in The Bahamas after a potential sonic boom during its launch on Tuesday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX issued a warning for residents and visitors in The Bahamas of a potential sonic boom during its launch on Tuesday. The space company launched more than 20 satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

(Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

What's a sonic boom?

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NASA defines a sonic boom as a "thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other type of aerospace vehicle flies overhead faster than the speed of sound or supersonic".

In other words, it's an impulsive noise similar to the sound of thunder. It's most typically heard when objects are moving faster than sound, about 750 miles per hour at sea level.

When an aircraft moves faster than the speed of sound, pressure waves combine to form shock waves which travel forward from the generation point.

The sound heard is a sonic boom, which is the release of pressure after the buildup by the shock wave, also known as "peak overpressure."

What's Starlink?

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The Starlink mission is SpaceX's satellite network developed to provide internet to remote locations.

This internet system offers businesses and power users two different packages, one catering for residential purposes and the other for roaming.

SpaceX says it intends to have more than 40,000 satellites in orbit in the near future.

The aerospace company uses the Falcon 9, a reusable, two-stage rocket designed for the safe transport of people and payloads into Earth's orbit and beyond, to liftoff these Starlink satellites into the atmosphere.

SpaceX says this was the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched 15 space flights, including nine Starlink missions. After stage separation, the first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of The Bahamas.

Residents of The Bahamas were warned that they might hear one or more sonic booms during the landing.

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