Lights in the sky from SpaceX rocket surprise residents in Florida and also in Cuba

The launch this Friday from Cape Canaveral of a Space-X Falcon 9 rocket with 23 Starlink satellites on board was visible from different cities in Florida and also from some areas of Cuban territory, especially in the eastern part of the country.

Elon playing with his toy again," jokingly sentenced the popular Instagram profile Only in Dade alongside a video accompanied by the iconic soundtrack of The X-Files science fiction series.

The phenomenon was visible from Hialeah, Miami, and many other cities in the state.

Social media users reported yesterday the observation of a streak of light in several locations in eastern Cuba during the night," described the Cuban magazine Juventud Técnica on social media.

The publication - which accompanied the news of shocking photos taken from Gibara - stated that what was observed in Cuba was the second stage of the process.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 returned to Earth about 8.5 minutes after takeoff, as planned, landing on SpaceX's unmanned ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It was the 21st launch and landing of this particular booster, according to the mission description from SpaceX.

Although there have been several times when the phenomenon has been visible to residents in Florida and Cuba since 2018, it always surprises.

It is a reality that the close geographical proximity of Cuba and Florida favors them sharing not only feared hurricanes but also more enjoyable and impressive phenomena such as the SpaceX trail or the unusual aurora borealis from last week.

Since obtaining the original license to operate the first-generation Starlink network, SpaceX has launched thousands of satellites since 2018 and provides high-speed internet to over a million locations worldwide, according to the company founded by billionaire Elon Musk.

According to the Space.com website, the company has permission to launch 12,000 satellites, but has requested approval from an international regulator to launch up to 30,000 more.

The company explains that while most internet services come from satellites orbiting at about 35,000 kilometers, the Starlink swarm is much closer to Earth, at about 550 kilometers, which allows it to reduce the time it takes for data to travel back and forth between the user and the satellite.