SpaceX launches Falcon 9 on rideshare mission, creates brief "jellyfish" cloud effect
SpaceX’s predawn Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral produced a short-lived illuminated cloud display, while the booster landed on a droneship and the mission carried 32 payloads.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket on its Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral at 7:04 a.m. local time, 22 minutes before sunrise. The rocket’s exhaust illuminated the upper atmosphere for about a minute, creating a brief “jellyfish” cloud effect that was visible across the eastern United States.
The first-stage booster completed its 19th flight to space and returned to the Atlantic-based droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. The payload list included SpaceX’s Starfall system, designed for short-term microgravity experiments, as well as communication and navigation satellites for several commercial customers.
The launch marked the 60th orbital launch from the Space Coast in 2026, with SpaceX responsible for the majority of the 109 launches recorded in 2025. The company has reduced its Florida launch cadence as it shifts resources toward building a Starship and Super Heavy launch tower at Launch Complex 39-A.
Other U.S. launch providers have seen limited activity recently. United Launch Alliance is working to resume flights of its Vulcan rocket before year-end, while Boeing’s Starliner may fly an uncrewed test to the International Space Station as early as December, according to NASA. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket completed a single flight this year, but its launch pad at Complex 36 remains under repair after a May test-fire incident.