FIFA World Cup Balls Meet Stellar Goal By Soaring Into Orbit With Starlink

If the FIFA World Cup wasn’t already taking over the globe, it’s now heading into space. Al Rihla, the official match ball for the sporting spectacle, has just been launched into orbit and brought back as part of Qatar Airways’ promotions for the tournament. 

The airliner teamed up with Starlink to send two of its match balls 76 miles above Earth for the first stage of a “historical out-of-this-world journey,” while on board the space venture’s Falcon 9 rocket. 

After the booster descended back to our planet, the balls—named after the Arabic term for “a journey”—completed the first leg of a journey that eventually stretched over 800 miles. 

Qatar Airways then flew the balls on board its airplane back to Hamad International Airport, where the high-tech pair were handed back to World Cup officials. 

According to Interesting Engineering, the SpaceX stunt also made up part of a promotion for the firm’s satellite internet service in Doha, where World Cup attendees were invited to take a peek at the Starlink office in the city. 

Interestingly, the balls that were sent to space aren’t the ones that will be gracing the pitch for the tournament’s semifinals and finals. Rather, a variation of metallic gold, maroon, burgundy, and red match balls dubbed ‘Al Hilm’, which translates to “the dream,” will be used. 

These Al Rihla balls aren’t the only soccer balls to head into space, the first being when Adidas’ ‘Telstar 18’ match balls headed to the International Space Station before being used in the Russia World Cup. 

[via Interesting Engineering and Starlink, cover image via Starlink]