Space jellyfish makes tiny encore as weather clears for SpaceX launch

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Oct 20, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

ORLANDO, Fla. — Weather cleared and SpaceX executed a predawn launch Tuesday morning that offered viewers another serving of space jellyfish, albeit a smaller, shorter-lived version than the one seen last week.

That launch created the effect of the expanding nebula that was seen among clear skies all the way up to Washington, D.C. Closer to the launch site in Florida, the massive post-launch cloud formation was among the most impressive ever seen, said local photographers.

Tuesday morning’s followup did not have the same grandeur, but for those who watched, it created the unique effect once again after liftoff.

That came minutes after a Falcon 9 rocket on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission carrying 32 payloads took flight from Cape Canaveral Space Forde Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:04 a.m. just 22 minutes before sunrise, with skies already tinged a lighter blue than the darker skies seen during last week’s launch.

With a trajectory headed to the southeast, the exhaust from the rocket billowed out again, but only captured the light of the sun in the upper atmosphere for the jellyfish effect for about a minute, not capturing the orange and blue hues seen on similar launches, and then quickly dissipating.

The first-stage booster for this mission made its 19th trip to space with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

Among the payloads is SpaceX’s Starfall system, which will make a re-entry shortly after launch. It’s designed to carry customer payloads that seek just short-term microgravity effects.

Among the other rideshare customers on board are communication and navigation satellites for a variety of companies.

This was the 60th launch from all providers in 2026 from the Space Coast with SpaceX having flown all but seven of those. SpaceX, though, has dialed back its Florida-based launch plans— which led to a record 109 launches from all providers in 2025 — as it focuses on building up its Starship and Super Heavy launch tower at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A.

What had been pacing to be a launch every three days last year has been a rarity in the last two months. SpaceX has only flown four other times since Aug. 30, and the other launch providers have yet to announce new targets for their return to flight.

United Launch Alliance is still trying to return to the launch pad before the end of the year with its Vulcan rocket working through issues seen on its last flight earlier this year. ULA’s Atlas V, though, could beat Vulcan, which has only flown four times, as Boeing’s Starliner might be ready to fly as early as this December for an uncrewed mission to the space station, according to NASA. ULA last flew on July 2.

Blue Origin, meanwhile, flew its New Glenn rocket successfully once this year, but the launch pad at Canaveral’s Launch Complex 36 was heavily damaged from a massive explosion during a rocket test hot fire back in May, so Jeff Bezos’ company has been in rebuild mode trying to get back to flight readiness at LC-36 before the end of the year. The lone New Glenn flight this year was on April 19.

NASA flew the other launch with the flight of its Space Launch System rocket topped with the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis II lunar flyby mission taking off from KSC’s LC-39B on April 1. SLS won’t fly again until at least mid 2027 for Artemis III, although NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is slated to update that mission’s progress in a press conference from KSC this Friday.

-----------