TITUSVILLE, FL – A spectacular SpaceX Jellyfish formed high in the skies over the Space Coast soon after the launch of another batch of Starlink broadband internet satellites just before sunrise on Thursday, May 21.

Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-31 mission took place at 6:04 a.m. ET (1004 UTC) on May 21 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL.

The rocket traveled on a northeasterly trajectory after pre-sunrise blastoff from pad 40

A dramatic looking ‘jellyfish’ can form when sunlight reflects off the massive exhaust plume as the Falcon 9 rocket rises into high altitude daylight from initial ground darkness – usually within an hour of sunrise (in this case) or sunset during the ascent to orbit.

As an added eye-popping treat, we saw the first and second stages visibly separate – as seen in our photos

Enjoy our photos taken by Ken Kremer from our backyard in Titusville, FL

The Falcon 9 rocket tail number B1077.28 successfully completed its 28^th mission to space and back.

The Starlink 10-31 mission successfully deployed it payload of 29 Starlink internet satellites to LEO

Some eight and a half minutes after liftoff, F9 B1077 successfully landed upright on the ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ or ASOG droneship – prepositioned about 400 miles downrange off the coast of the Carolinas

The first stage booster B1077.28 supporting this mission, previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, TD7, and now 21 Starlink missions.

Overall this counts as the 150th landing on ASOG and marks the 613th booster landing to date.

It should return to Port Canaveral atop ASOG in 2 to 3 days.

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