Residents were treated to a spectacle in the sky when a SpaceX rocket was seen over Bermuda Tuesday evening.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Maxar 3, which launched from the storied launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, caught the attention of photographers and curious onlookers when it made its way into orbit.

Many residents were able to see the spacecraft’s light emissions in the clear skies shortly before 7.15pm as the 229.6ft rocket crossed over Bermuda after sunset.

The early stages of the launch were widely visible and created a bright spectacle.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two Earth observation satellites for Maxar Intelligence ― it’s third for the company and completes the deployment of the company’s next-generation WorldView Legion constellation.

With the launch, Maxar, a Colorado-based provider of geospatial intelligence, finalises the deployment of its fleet of high-resolution imaging spacecraft.

Max Kehrli, an insurance actuary with a passion for photography, was stationed at Whale Bay to capture the event.

He said: “Bermuda has a pretty unique position in getting to see these launches when they are in the vicinity. The one last night I knew of in advance, it was absolutely perfect, the timing was right and there were no clouds in the sky.

“Seeing it in person was breathtaking, it’s pretty amazing that we get to see that sort of technological achievement from our back door.”

Mr Kehrli has been an avid fan of SpaceX for a long time and tracks the launches that can be viewed from Bermuda to photograph them.

Mr Kehrli has been a photographer since he was a university student and used a long-exposure technique to capture the lights from the spacecraft.

SpaceX is an American space technology company that designs, manufactures and launches advanced spacecrafts and rockets.

Founded by tech mogul Elon Musk in May 2002, the company has completed 444 missions with launches starting as early as 2006.

The Falcon 9 is a world’s first orbital class reusable rocket and was manufactured by SpaceX for the transportation of people and payloads to Earth’s orbit.

• Photos of previous launches captured by Mr Kehrli can be seen on Instagram @max.kehrli