Early risers across New Jersey were treated to an unusual sight in the predawn sky Tuesday morning as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket became visible above the Garden State shortly after launching from Florida.
The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at approximately 5:33 a.m. on August 25, carrying another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Just minutes later, around 5:40 a.m., people across New Jersey began spotting a bright, glowing formation moving through the still-dark sky.
Reports of the sighting came from areas stretching from the Jersey Shore to Hackensack, helped by clear skies across much of the state.
For anyone who happened to look up, the rocket did not necessarily resemble the familiar image of a spacecraft climbing through the atmosphere. Instead, many observers saw a large glowing cloud surrounding the rocket.
That effect is sometimes called the “SpaceX jellyfish.”
It occurs when a rocket reaches high altitude while the ground below is still relatively dark. Sunlight can illuminate the rocket’s exhaust plume from above the horizon, creating a bright, expanding cloud that can resemble a jellyfish floating across the sky. The combination of Tuesday’s early launch time and clear weather made conditions particularly favorable for viewing the phenomenon from New Jersey.
29 More Starlink Satellites Sent Into Orbit
Tuesday morning’s Falcon 9 mission carried 29 Starlink broadband satellites into low Earth orbit.
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet network, built from thousands of satellites orbiting relatively close to Earth and designed to provide broadband internet service to users around the world.
But the payload was not the only notable part of Tuesday’s mission.
A Record Breaking 37th Flight
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster used for Tuesday’s mission was flying for the 37th time, setting a new record for that particular rocket booster.
SpaceX’s ability to repeatedly reuse Falcon 9 boosters has become one of the defining features of its launch program. Instead of discarding the entire rocket after a single mission, the company recovers and flies first stages again, in some cases dozens of times.
Reaching 37 missions with the same booster marks another milestone in that reusable-rocket strategy.
For New Jersey residents, however, the morning provided something simpler: an unexpected space show before sunrise.
Those who were awake around 5:40 a.m. and looking toward the right part of the sky had a chance to see a rocket launched hundreds of miles away in Florida glowing high above the East Coast.
Source: SpaceX / X; Image: X / @stevechenevey; X / @MosheDe_
By NJ RADAR Team