SpaceX launch to ISS paints a glowing 'jellyfish' in the sky

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 6:33 a.m. EDT on October 13, 2026, and sunlight lit up its expanding exhaust plume into a jellyfish-like shape visible across the eastern US. The flight was SpaceX's 35th commercial resupply mission for NASA, carrying the final iROSA solar arrays and medical experiments to the ISS.

• Liftoff occurred October 13 at 6:33 a.m. EDT from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral
• The flight was SpaceX's 35th commercial resupply mission for NASA
• Dragon carried the final iROSA solar arrays for installation this fall
• Cargo includes experiments on artificial retinas and 3D heart tissue