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| - Fact Check: Video of ISRO rocket launch WRONGLY shared as 'sunrise' at midnight in India
Social media users claimed this video showed a sunrise at midnight somewhere in India.
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India Today Fact Check
This video shows the launch of ISRO’s GSLV MK3 rocket at midnight in Andhra Pradesh.
A video making the rounds on social media supposedly shows “sunrise at midnight” in India. The video appears to show that night sky that, all of a sudden, illuminates with a burst of orange. A sun-like circular object lights up the night sky resembling a sunrise. The video also shows a huge number of spectators recording the event, who stand up and clap.
Social media users claimed that this video showed a sunrise at midnight somewhere in India. An archive of a similar tweet can be found here.
AFWA found that this video does not show a sunrise but a rocket launch at Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.
AFWA PROBE
A reverse search of keyframes from the viral video led us to a Reddit post that contained an extended version of the viral clip. The full video, shared a month ago, first shows the bright source of light appearing amid the darkness, and then rising further up in the sky. The video was titled, “Midnight Sunrise in Sriharikota. ISRO launched 36 broadband satellites on the GSLVMK3 rocket.”
The Indian Space Research Organisation launched its heaviest rocket, Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3 or GSLV Mark 3) on October 23, 2022. The rocket took off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota at 12:07 am. The launch marked the first dedicated commercial launch for NewSpace India Limited in partnership with a UK-based firm OneWeb, successfully launching 36 broadband communication satellites.
With the help of relevant keywords, we found several verified Twitter handles that shared the extended version of the viral video of the rocket launch.
We also found another video of the launch shared by Sidharth MP, a Chennai-based reporter with WION. In this video, a sight similar to the viral video can be seen unfolding behind the reporter.
AFWA shared the viral video with him to confirm if it was from the same event. Sidharth told us that this video is indeed from the same launch as there were no other recent night launches. He further added that the video was shot from the viewers’ gallery at the launch.
With the help of a keyword search, we found a YouTube video shared by a person who witnessed the rocket launch on October 23, 2022. Upon reaching out to him, Griffin Steve confirmed that the viral clip is from the ISRO rocket launch itself. A comparison of the video of the launch shared by him on YouTube and keyframes of the viral video confirms that the latter was indeed from the same event.
The GSLV MK3 was reportedly the heaviest rocket in use by the Indian Space Research Organisation, that ferried its heaviest payload into space — 36 satellites weighing a total of 5,796 kilos.
(Written by Sanjana Saxena)
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