Rocket-ing doubleheader launch day inspires Photo(s) of the Week

[Buster's Uncle]

Florida Today
Rocket-ing doubleheader launch day inspires Photo(s) of the Week that lift off the page
Britt Kennerly, Florida Today
Sat, November 15, 2025 at 5:02 AM EST
2 min read



Daytime launch: A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Nov. 13, 2025, carrying NASA’s ESCAPADE mission destined for Mars.


If you've lived on the Space Coast for more than a few days, there’s a pretty darned good chance you've seen a launch, and quite possibly, some historic ones.

But even in a record-breaking year for liftoffs, Nov. 13 was one for the books with memorable day and night launches, producing captures so cool, we couldn't decide on just one special shot.

The rocket-ing result: Photo(s) of the Week from photogs with an eye on the sky, Craig Bailey and Malcolm Denemark.

Blue Origin’s liftoff marked the 95th orbital rocket launch of 2025 from Florida’s Space Coast and only the second flight of the New Glenn rocket.

The 96th liftoff occurred hours later. United Launch Alliance sent up an Atlas V rocket, deploying a communications satellite.

"Doubleheader launch days are still rare on the Space Coast but even rarer are launches that don’t include Brevard’s most frequent flier, SpaceX’s Falcon 9," said Executive Editor Mara Bellaby.

And for the photographers snagging those Photos of the Week, jam-packed schedules don't always pencil in problems like Mother Nature's weather whims.



Launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on the second mission for Viasat, the second of a planned constellation of three Ka-band communications satellites. The rocket launched at 10:04 p.m EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.


"Sometimes you just gotta make do," said Bailey. "I tried to do a few things differently for this launch and they didn't work out, partially due to the delay in the launch, due to weather and technical issues -- expected, but not always able to be overcome."

He went for a different location other than on the beach, "because we already had three people there," he said. He hoped for a foreground with a few locals watching from their boats but alas, it was a Thursday afternoon, not a leisurely Sunday.

"The remotes were a different challenge," said Bailey. " Only half of the cameras I set out actually worked according to plan. The front that came through with its wind and rain disabled a couple of cameras that I wasn't able to clear in the field. But hey, the others worked .... glass half full, right?"

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Liftoff! 2 too-cool launches land spots in Photo(s) of the Week