Video: SpaceX Launch Spotted at Disney World

In the early evening of January 18, 2022, citizens high and low in the Magic Kingdom–and elsewhere across the Walt Disney World Resort–looked to the sky and saw SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blazing into space.

Lifting off from Launch Complex 39-A at Kennedy Space Center, this latest mission from Elon Musk‘s space-faring venture carried 49 Starlink Satellites into low-earth orbit.

Here is the view Disney Guest and Annual Passholder Felicia Baron had along the edge of World Showcase Lagoon as she watched EPCOT’s Nighttime Spectacular, HarmonioUS:

The SpaceX Rocket is Orange Flame in the sky.

Kennedy Space Center, the epicenter of spaceflight in the United States, sits just north of the Disney Cruise Line port at Cape Canaveral, and gives that stretch of Florida beach the nickname “Space Coast.” It is only 54 miles away from Orlando, and only 60 miles from Lake Buena Vista. That proximity allows Guests visiting Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and all of the other area attractions a chance to watch a space launch with their own eyes, especially on dark clear nights that let the bright orange plume from 9 merlin engines truly stand out against the background.

Related: “Wishes” & “Happily Ever After” Soundtracks Heard Playing from the Magic Kingdom After Park Close

Walt Disney was a space fan himself and has always incorporated such inspiration to shoot for the stars into his theme parks. Today, Disney Park Guests get to go off-world aboard Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom Park and Mission: SPACE, and Space 220 at EPCOT, and they get to explore whole alien worlds like Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and the outer rim planet of Batuu at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Read More: 5 Attractions That Take You to Faraway Galaxies at Disney World

But what an unforgettable addition it would be, to any Disney Vacation, to watch a real spaceship blast off into space standing right next to Cinderella Castle or Spaceship Earth!

Kennedy Space Center is also the launch site of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule that is already scheduled to send NASA astronauts–as well as astronauts from Japan and Europe–to the International Space Station later this year. Click here for more details.

T-1 hour to Falcon 9 launch of Dragon. The crew is go! pic.twitter.com/XlQcY2w5oM

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2021

Have you caught a Space Launch while visiting Walt Disney World? Let us know in the comments!