A satellite launch in 8 seconds

No, this wasn’t for SpaceX. No client, no brief. Just a test I wanted to see through to the end.

Satellite animations have a built-in problem: the first half is usually a huge, empty, dark scene, and the second half is a tiny object covered in extremely reflective material.

What I tried to solve:

→ The fairing split and release needed to feel heavy and slow, not like a Hollywood explosion (okay, maybe a tiny bit). Real separations are calm, and calm is harder to make interesting.

→ The camera move from “satellite in orbit” to “right next to the thermal foil” has to hold up at both scales, without the detail falling apart up close.

→ Gold multi-layer insulation is a nightmare. It wrinkles, it reflects everything around it, and it looks like crumpled candy wrapper if the lighting is even slightly off.