Space Jellyfish Lights Up Florida After Bandwagon-5 Launch

Cape Canaveral, FL — October 20, 2026 — SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:04 a.m. EDT, creating a glowing “space jellyfish” as sunlight lit the rocket’s high-altitude exhaust plume.

Why Visitors Care

Predawn and twilight launches are among the Space Coast’s best free shows. The jellyfish effect can be visible from Brevard County to the Tampa Bay area when geometry and sunlight line up — a bucket-list moment for tourists staying near Cocoa Beach, Titusville, or Port Canaveral.

• Pad: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
• Payloads: 30+ small satellites and rideshare cargo to low Earth orbit
• Booster recovery: droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic
• Milestone: reported as Florida’s 60th orbital launch of 2026

Pair launch alerts with a Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex day and an evening beach view for the full Florida space-tourism experience.

Florida Space Tourism Network — covering Space Coast launches for visitors and locals.