Fact Check: Viral video claiming Chandrayaan-3 launch shot from an airplane is not recent

Following the launch of Chandrayaan-3 on July 14, social media users shared videos related to the launch on the internet.

One such video showed the aerial view of a rocket launched into space. Netizens claimed that this viral video shows the Chandrayaan-3 launch and was taken by an IndiGo passenger who witnessed the event while flying from Chennai to Dhaka.

The video is being shared with the caption, “An Indigo flight was flying from Chennai to Dhaka. Coincidentally, it was passing over SrihariKota at the time of launch of Chandrayan-3. The pilot announced that the passengers can be the witness of the historic event, launch of Chandrayan-3. A passenger at a window seat recorded a video on his mobile and it is the first ever amateur video of a space craft from space.”

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FACT CHECK:

Upon performing a reverse image search, we found a report published in The Independent in December 2022 that carried similar visuals. It was titled, "Passengers see SpaceX rocket launch from plane window."

The articles dated almost 2 years ago, refer to the launch of a SpaceX rocket that was witnessed by a passenger on a commercial plane flying past Cape Canaveral in Florida.

SpaceX had conducted its milestone 200th orbital mission on Friday, and passengers seated near the window seats witnessed the rocket trailing in the sky. The footage was shared by a TikTok user and flight attendant, who captioned the video “While working for my flight we witnessed this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon!”

The same was also reported by Republic World.

While we could not independently verify the date of release and context of the viral video, it is clear that it has no connection with the launch of Chandrayaan-3.

Thus, the claim is false.