I dont think it is time critical when the separation occurs since it is after the last burn. It won’t affect the payload orbit. I believe what they are doing in that time is double and triple checking the orbit to make sure it is correct. They may need to check position at different times to get a truly accurate reading of the orbit. If something isn’t right, the second stage can be called on again to tweak the orbit.
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I dont think it is time critical when the separation occurs since it is after the last burn. It won’t affect the payload orbit. I believe what they are doing in that time is double and triple checking the orbit to make sure it is correct. They may need to check position at different times to get a truly accurate reading of the orbit. If something isn’t right, the second stage can be called on again to tweak the orbit.
Is this what you are referring to, at T+00:17 ? Something that was burning seemed to come out of the bright area of the rocket exhaust and fall towards Earth.
It looked to me like a falling burning object since it seemed to have a “tail”. Obviously, I could be wrong. 
Yes. Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, is a photographer by profession. He (and others) said it was a lens flare.
Mike1080i
Member
Yep, the inverted image of the flame plume is not uncommon in overexposed night launch shots.
I guess I didn't mention that I design cameras for a living...
