10/22/2026
🚀 Central Florida's sky got weird again. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:04 a.m. on Tuesday, October 20, carrying SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, and the predawn timing delivered a show. Minutes after liftoff, a glowing, bell-shaped plume spread overhead with wispy tentacles trailing behind it, the phenomenon skywatchers have nicknamed a "space jellyfish." ✨ The effect happens when a rocket climbs high enough that its expanding exhaust catches direct sunlight while observers on the ground are still in darkness.
Cameras captured the glow across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area. The mission carried 32 payloads into orbit, a mix of cubesats, microsatellites and reentry vehicles. It was the 19th flight for this particular first-stage booster, which has previously flown Crew-9, Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 and several Starlink missions. After stage separation, the booster headed for a landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. 🌊
