SpaceX Starlink launch creates gorgeous 'jellyfish' in predawn Florida skies (video, photos)

a rocket's high-altitude plume is lit up in shades of blue and orange by the sun prior to sunrise. — The high-altitude plume from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is lit up by the sun prior to sunrise on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX)

A SpaceX Starlink launch put on a stunning sky show this morning (March 4), as its high-altitude plume was lit by the yet-to-rise sun.

Sometimes likened to a jellyfish given its bulbous, translucent appearance, the effect could be seen over Florida today after the 5:52 a.m. EST (1052 GMT) launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

a time lapse exposure of a pre-dawn rocket launch captures its orange-white glowing streak and the jellyfish like plume it created. — A time-lapse photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Past Booster B1080 missions:

Ax-2 | Euclid | Ax-3 | CRS-30 | SES ASTRA 1P | NG-21 | 18 Starlink launches

The Falcon 9's first stage, Booster 1080, completed its 25th flight to space and back with a landing on the droneship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" positioned off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean. According to SpaceX, it was the 580th landing in the company's history.

The 29 Starlink satellites added to SpaceX's megaconstellation, which is quickly approaching 10,000 units in orbit.

Today's launch was SpaceX's 28th mission of the year, out of more than 600 in the company's history. Twenty-three of the 28 launches in 2026 have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation.

the high-altitude plume of a rocket launch is lit up by the sun causing the "jellyfish" effect. — The high-altitude plume from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is lit up by the sun prior to sunrise on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Space "jellyfish" aren't all that uncommon; they appear fairly regularly when Falcon 9 rockets launch around dusk or dawn.

At these times, sunlight illuminates exhaust from the rocket's upper stage, which is composed primarily of water vapor and carbon dioxide. The skies, meanwhile, are still relatively dark, allowing these glowing clouds to be seen by observers on the ground.

Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.

In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.