Worldwide detection of rocket launches for space missions using International Monitoring System infrasound arrays

Abstract

The signals of rocket launches can be detected at infrasound arrays in thousands of kilometers distance. We use microbarometer arrays, which are part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to identify and characterize rocket launches all over the world. We studied more than 1000 launch events for space missions and their infrasonic signatures. Even small-lift launch vehicles such as Electron rockets starting from New Zealand with payloads of only a few hundreds of kilograms, e.g., for small satellites, can regularly be detected by one or more remote infrasound stations. We present selected cases of interest, including the latest NASA Artemis 1 Space Launch System and SpaceX Starship launches as well as airborne rocket starts and small-lift launches by different companies. Furthermore, we present a systematic analysis of infrasound recorded from multiple and regularly launched vehicles like Ariane 5, Falcon 9, and various Soyuz and Long March rocket types. Our main focus is on the connection between the observed signatures and propagation-corrected acoustic amplitudes of rocket launches as well as rocket parameters like payload, size and thrust, rocket stage, and engine characteristics of different rocket types.