A pre-dawn SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral at about 6:33 a.m. produced a bright, ringed exhaust cloud widely reported as a "space jellyfish." Observers across Florida and the broader Southeast, including viewers in Tampa and Naples, captured the glowing plume when sunlight illuminated the high-altitude exhaust after the vehicle climbed over the horizon. Social posts and local reports identified the flight as a cargo resupply mission, NASA listing it as the CRS-35 resupply launch to the International Space Station. Witnesses described the visual as a sudden orange glow or a ringed cloud visible well after liftoff, with some drivers spotting it while en route to work and others mistaking the display for an unidentified object before confirming a launch. The phenomenon reflects the common pre-dawn effect in which high-altitude rocket plumes enter sunlight while the ground remains dark, producing dramatic illuminated clouds along the vehicle's trajectory. Local accounts also noted audible impacts at nearby homes from recent launches, underscoring continuing community attention to frequent Florida-area flight operations.
