SpaceX cargo launch creates glowing 'jellyfish' in predawn sky
Before dawn on Oct. 13, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying a Dragon cargo capsule on the CRS-35 mission to the International Space Station. The launch produced a large, glowing plume of orange and blue light that resembled a jellyfish in the pre-dawn sky. The Dragon is scheduled to dock autonomously with the station's Harmony module around 11 a.m. EDT on Oct. 15.
The CRS-35 flight is SpaceX’s 35th resupply run to the ISS under its NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract. Its uncrewed Dragon capsule is carrying thousands of pounds of equipment and supplies, including food, clothing, medical items, and research experiments.
The glowing “jellyfish” forms when rocket exhaust—water vapor and carbon dioxide—freezes into ice crystals high in the cold atmosphere. At dawn or dusk, sunlight catches that spreading plume while observers below remain in dim conditions, making the frozen trail appear as a luminous orange-and-blue shape. Dragon is expected to dock automatically at Harmony on Oct. 15.
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