SpaceX Launches Cargo Ship That Was Visible Across Several States

The launch was conducted at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It was visible across several states including North and South Carolina.

If you were awake early Tuesday morning, you may have witnessed something flying across the sky.

Around 6:30am, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying an unpiloted Dragon cargo ship into orbit. It is expected to arrive at the International Space Station to deliver more than 6,300 pounds of research materials, spare parts, and crew supplies. Also on board are two new roll-out solar array blankets, the final sets in a major upgrade to compensate for age-related degradation of the station’s original eight solar wings.

The launch was conducted at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It was visible across several states including North and South Carolina when it reached roughly 80 to 100 miles above Earth. It and its expanding exhaust plume were illuminated by the rising sun while we were still in the dark. The sunlight made the plume glow against the dark, pre-dawn sky. Witnesses reported seeing a “space jellyfish” as a result of the rocket leaving behind the trail of exhaust.