SpaceX Rocket Launch in Florida Creates "Jellyfish Cloud" Over US East Coast
A pre-dawn Falcon 9 launch from Florida on Tuesday produced a huge, glowing cloud visible across several eastern US states. Another similar launch is scheduled for Monday, 19 October.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off before sunrise on Tuesday, 14 October, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, producing a vast, glowing formation in the sky known as a "jellyfish cloud". The rocket was carrying cargo to the International Space Station, and its launch gave many residents a view of an unusual light display.
How the cloud forms
The effect occurs when an expanding plume of fuel exhaust crystallizes in the sky and the frozen particles reflect sunlight. The launch took place at 6.33am Eastern Time, 48 minutes before sunrise. That timing suits the colourful effect, which is only fully visible from the ground during dusk or dawn launches.
Seen across several states
The rocket's north-easterly path over the Atlantic Ocean meant residents of eastern states from Georgia to New York could see the display. NASA, the US space agency, posted photographs of the cloud on X, the social media platform owned by SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk. Among hundreds of replies were images taken by sky watchers in multiple states.
Next opportunity
People who missed the show will have another chance on Monday, 19 October. Another Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch from the same pad at the space force station on a satellite-deployment mission. The one-hour launch window opens at 6.30am Eastern Time, a little over half an hour before the 7.01am sunrise.
