Smaller Space Jellyfish Forms after Sunrise Launch SpaceX Falcon 9 on Bandwagon 5 Rideshare mission with 32 Payloads including Starfall: Photos

Space Jellyfish forms after launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit with 32 payloads on October 20, 2026 at 7:04 a.m. ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As seen from Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com

TITUSVILLE, FL –  Another smaller but still beautiful ‘Space Jellyfish’ after the presunrise SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the Bandwagon 5 rideshare mission on Oct. 20 from Florida’s Space Coast

On Tuesday, October 20 at 7:04 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched the Bandwagon-5 mission to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Space Jellyfish forms after launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit with 32 payloads on October 20, 2026 at 7:04 a.m. ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As seen from Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com

Spectators enjoyed another Space Jellyfish as the rocket flew on a southeasterly trajectory

Space Jellyfish forms after launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit with 32 payloads on October 20, 2026 at 7:04 a.m. ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As seen from Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com

This jellyfish was not as pronounced as last week during the NASA CRS-35 resupply mission to the ISS – since the sky was brighter with less visible higher altitude exhaust plumes – when the liftoff was delayed about 34 minutes and took place much closer to sunrise

Space Jellyfish forms after launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit with 32 payloads on October 20, 2026 at 7:04 a.m. ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As seen from Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com

On board this mission were 32 payloads including cubesats, microsats, and reentry vehicles as well as a SpaceX Starfall reentry capsule vehicle

Space Jellyfish forms after launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit with 32 payloads on October 20, 2026 at 7:04 a.m. ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As seen from Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com

Enjoy our launch and jellyfish photos taken by Ken Kremer for Space UpClose from Titusville

Space Jellyfish forms after launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit with 32 payloads on October 20, 2026 at 7:04 a.m. ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As seen from Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com

The launch had been delayed a day from Monday – by very poor local and landing weather with high winds and waves

Space Jellyfish forms after launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit with 32 payloads on October 20, 2026 at 7:04 a.m. ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As seen from Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com

This was the 19th flight of the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission with tail number B1085.19

Initially it launched Crew-9 astronaut mission to the ISS

 

Thereafter it flew RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SXM-10, MTG-S1, EchoStar XXV, SXM-11, and now 10 Starlink missions.

 

Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Bahamas.

 

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Ken Kremer

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news. Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics. Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events.

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