1001 Rocket Launches for Space Missions and Their Infrasonic Signature

Infrasound array processing is applied to monitor and characterize atmospheric explosions in the context of the Comprehensive Nuclear‐Test‐Ban Treaty. Anyhow, for many infrasound sources the exact location and time are initially unknown and sometimes difficult to precisely estimate afterward. In contrast, rocket launches are well‐defined ground‐truth events generating strong infrasonic signatures. During the last decade, the number of rocket launches for sending satellites into Earth’s orbit and for reaching space strongly increased. We collected ground‐truth information for 1001 rocket launches from 27 global spaceports between 2009 and mid‐2020 and were able to identify infrasound signatures from up to 73% of the launches on the International Monitoring System of infrasound stations. We use these unique data to estimate the global detectability of such events, to characterize rocket infrasound, to derive an amplitude‐energy relation, and to provide the results for further use as a ground‐truth reference in geophysical and atmospheric research.