Florida residents may hear sonic booms during Falcon 9 rocket launch on Thursday

Stream rocket launch here:

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Some Florida residents may hear sonic booms following the liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday morning, according to SpaceX.

The agency plans to launch the Maxar 2 mission into orbit from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, with a 60-minute window opening at 9 a.m.

Eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage is expected to land at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 

SpaceX set to launch Maxar 2 mission into orbit from Florida on Thursday

SpaceX said there is a possibility that residents of the following counties could hear one or more sonic booms, but the sound will depend on weather and other factors:

• Brevard
• Orange
• Osceola
• Indian River
• Seminole
• Volusia
• Polk
• St. Lucie
• Okeechobee

What is a sonic boom?

A sonic boom happens when something travels through the air faster than the speed of sound – about 750 mph – resulting in a loud boom similar to an explosion or thunder, according to NASA and U.S. Air Force.

NASA said the sound energy of a sonic boom is around 110 decibels.