Two 2022 World Cup match balls were flown to space and back on a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage.

Two 2022 World Cup match balls were flown to space and back on a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage. (Image credit: Qatar Airways/SpaceX / collectSPACE.com)

A recent launch included the rocket's first stage landing on the ground. This time, the touchdown could be described as a World Cup goal.

Two official match balls from the World Cup will be sent to outer space, thanks to a partnership between the airlines and the rocket company. The soccer balls, as they are called everywhere else but the U.S., reached 76 miles above Earth in the first stage of the Falcon 9 mission.

The first leg of the trip was completed when the white, blue, red and yellow balls descended with the booster. The balls were handed off to World Cup officials at the airport.

"For a legendary tournament, from space to kick off, is a legendary journey," the airline said in a video.

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cosmonauts play soccer in space to celebrate the world cup.

The match balls are the first to use sustainable water-based glues and ink. "Al Rihla" means "the journey" in Arabic. The semifinals and finals this week will feature a different set of metallic gold, maroon, burgundy and red match balls.

The promotion was for the company's Starlink satellite internet service. The World Cup attendees were invited to visit the Starlink office in the Middle East.

Two World Cup balls were flown to space and back by the Starlink team, thanks to theFIFA World Cup. The officials of the company wrote on the social networking site.

The match balls were the first example of a commercial mission being flown on the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket. They aren't the first soccer balls to be flown into space.

After landing from space, the World Cup balls were flown by Qatar Airways to Doha for their hand off to FIFA officials.

After landing from space, the World Cup balls were flown by Qatar Airways to Doha for their hand off to FIFA officials. (Image credit: Qatar Airways)

Russian cosmonauts flew an Adidas "Telstar 18" ball to the International Space Station in order to use it for the start of the World Cup in Moscow. During its 74 days in space, the ball traveled more than 50 million miles.

The astronauts and cosmonauts used a soccer ball left on the station to play a game in celebration of the tournament on the ground.

Several Adidas soccer balls were sent to the International Space Station by the NASA-contracted Dragon cargo ship. The purpose of the tests was to gain a better understanding of the balls' flight characteristics. More design freedom was expected from the results.

The soccer ball that was recovered from the debris of the doomed space shuttle Challenger was flown to the International Space Station 31 years later. The ball was flown as a tribute to the fallen astronauts and to the students for whom it was supposed to fly.

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