Video shows SpaceX Starlink mission, not Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile

After China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in September 2024, footage of a rocket emitting dramatic plumes surfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed the Chinese Dongfeng-31 AG missile. But the video -- viewed tens of thousands of times -- has circulated online since at least June 2024. Its original uploader told AFP the clip shows a SpaceX mission launch in California.

"Dongfeng-31 AG flies over Hawaii. The US couldn't even intercept it even if they wanted to," read the simplified Chinese caption of a TikTok video shared on September 28, 2024.

Image

The same footage was shared repeatedly and viewed tens of thousands of times on TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin.

Image
Screenshots of false videos shared on Douyin, captured on October 21, 2024

The posts circulated just days after China launched its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean on September 25, 2024. It said the mission was "legitimate and routine", insisting that its nuclear stance remained defensive after the rare test prompted an outcry from countries in the region (archived link).

Beijing said the missile was carrying a dummy warhead. It was its first such test in four decades. 

The Chinese People's Liberation Army News and Communication Center released photos of the launch on September 26, 2024 (archived link).

Analysts said the imagery suggested the launch could be of a Dongfeng-31 AG intercontinental ballistic missile, unveiled during a military parade in 2017.

The circulating video, however, predates China's missile launch by at least three months.

SpaceX Starlink mission

A reverse image search followed by keyword searches led to the same video uploaded on social media platform X on June 24, 2024 (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the images taken from the falsely shared video (left) and the original video uploaded on X (right):

Image
Screenshot comparison of the images taken from falsely shared video (left) and the original video uploaded on X (right)

According to the post by X user Tony LiVigni, it shows SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California.

LiVigni told AFP he filmed the footage of the rocket on June 23, 2024 in Los Angeles.

"The object that is circled and being referenced in the TikTok post is the Falcon 9 first stage booster firing its cold gas thrusters to orient itself properly before initiating an entry burn for a return landing onto the drone ship," he said in a direct message on Facebook on October 18, 2024.

LiVigni has a history of publishing SpaceX footage on social media, including here and here (archived links here and here).

He is also an admin for Vandenberg Launch Enthusiasts, a community on X (archived link).

The Falcon 9 rocket sent 20 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit on June 23, according to SpaceX (archived link).

AFP photographer Patrick T. Fallon captured a similar photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket over Lawndale, California on June 18, 2024.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

Contact us