SpaceX Launch Creates Stunning ‘Jellyfish’ Over East Coast: Here’s What Happened

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) launched the Bandwagon-5 mission on Tuesday morning from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, leading to a jellyfish-like cloud formation over the U.S. East Coast.

The Elon Musk-led commercial spaceflight company had earlier planned the launch on Monday, October 19, but delayed the launch due to unfavorable weather conditions.

The mission took 32 payloads to orbit, including cubesats, microsats, and reentry vehicles, according to SpaceX. It included Starfall, SpaceX’s uncrewed reentry vehicle designed to autonomously return customer experiments and other payloads from space to Earth.

Users on the social media platform X, following the launch, captured the jellyfish effect in the early morning sky following the launch. User Mike’s Weather Page shared a series of photographs on X following the launch, showcasing the jellyfish clouds.

Awesome SpaceX launch this AM! pic.twitter.com/2c8GTXHy4v

— Mike's Weather Page (@tropicalupdate) October 20, 2026

The Jellyfish-like effect occurs during launches near dusk or dawn when the ground is in darkness, but the exhaust plume from the launch expands and catches light from the sun, which is still below the horizon.

SpaceX also confirmed that the first stage of the rocket will land on the “A Shortfall of Gravitas” droneship in the Atlantic Ocean following stage separation.

Price Action: SPCX shares were down 1.09% to $146.35 during pre-market trading on Tuesday.

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