Falcon 9 launched at 11:04 p.m. EDT (7:04 p.m. local PDT; 0204 GMT, Sept. 29). The rocket carried 28 new Starlink satellites<\/a> to join SpaceX’s growing wireless internet megaconstellation of over 8,000 networked spacecraft. The dusk liftoff provided ideal conditions for the setting sun to illuminate Falcon 9’s expanding engine exhaust against the darkening sky, as onlookers for hundreds of miles gazed in amazement.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \n A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rises after launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying 28 Starlink internet satellites on September 28, 2025, as seen from Altadena, California.\u00a0 (Image credit: Mario Tama\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The density of Earth’s upper atmosphere causes the exhaust plume of a rocket’s engines to expand as it ascends. The launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base<\/a> is notorious for its overcast and extremely foggy conditions, but Sunday’s clear skies created the ideal conditions for Falcon 9’s jellyfish to emerge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Among the many treated to the skyward spectacle, Space.com’s Managing Editor Brett Tingley managed to snap a photo of the phenomenon as the rocket flew over Afton Canyon, in the Mojave Desert.<\/p>\n “I was camping in Afton Canyon in the Mojave National Preserve when I noticed a colorful streak of light in the sky. I’ve seen plenty of Falcon 9 ‘jellyfish’ online but never in person.” Tingley said. “It was lit up gorgeously from below by the setting sun and made for a surprising start to a night of dark sky stargazing.”<\/p>\n \n A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flies over Afton Canyon in the Mojave Desert, creating a dazzling ‘space jellyfish’ below the moon. (Image credit: Space.com \/ Brett Tingley)<\/p>\n Posts to X also highlighted the spectacle as it crossed the sky, like these photos and video from West Coast spaceflight photographer, @spacecoastwest<\/a>:<\/p>\n Falcon 9 creates a spectacular Jellyfish show over California while delivering Starlink 11-20 and its 28 Starlink satellites to orbit.\ud83d\udcf8: @TLPN_Official pic.twitter.com\/fvmbaK9a0XSeptember 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Sightings were also reported to the American Meteor Society<\/a> (AMC), which tracks and triangulates anomalies in the sky (usually meteorites) using witness submission data.<\/p>\n Last night’s launch prompted seven different fireball reports<\/a> to the website, with a video from spectators in Phoenix, Arizona, wondering if the long streak moving across the sky might be a comet.<\/p>\n \n A projection of sightings and trajectory of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 jellyfish Sept. 28, 2025. (Image credit: American Meteor Society)<\/p>\n Sunday’s launch was the 28th mission for this particular Falcon 9 first stage, which landed downrange on SpaceX’s droneship “Of Course I Still Love You<\/a>,” in the Pacific Ocean about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. The rocket’s second stage continued to orbit, successfully deploying the satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO).<\/p>\n Sights like last night’s aren’t super rare, but can sometimes be hard to predict. Launches near dawn and dusk most often create the conditions for the jellyfish phenomenon, so if you live within a few hundred miles of a launchpad, keep your eyes to the skies.<\/p>\n![\"an](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iBAcsgcnGHiheF3P9HTZbA.jpg\")
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