A space jellyfish (also jellyfish UFO or rocket jellyfish) is a rocket launch-related phenomenon caused by sunlight reflecting off the high-altitude rocket plume gases emitted by a launching rocket during morning or evening twilight. The observer is in darkness, while the exhaust plumes at high altitudes are still in direct sunlight. This luminous apparition is reminiscent of a jellyfish.
A similar effect is the twilight phenomenon.
List of rocket launches causing space jellyfish
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| Falcon 9 | | Starlink Mission | 28 September 2025 | Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-4E | Evening launch creates a jellyfish. | | |
| Falcon 9 | | Starlink Group 10-26 | 26 July 2025 | CCSFS SLC-40 | Early morning (5:01AM) Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by the rising Sun. | | |
| Falcon 9 | | Starlink Mission | 10 February 2025 | Vandenberg Space Force Base California SLC-4E | Evening launch (6:09 PM) creates a jellyfish plume across California skies. | | | Firefly Alpha flight FLTA005 | Eight CubeSats | | Vandenberg Space Force Base |
| Falcon 9 flight 361 | | Starlink Group 9-1 | | Vandenberg Space Force Base | | | |
| Falcon 9 flight 339 | | Starlink Group 6-63 | | Florida | Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. | | |
| Falcon 9 flight 338 | | Starlink Group 6-62 | | Florida | Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. | | |
| Falcon 9 flight 232 | | Transporter 8 | | Vandenberg Space Force Base | Afternoon launch – plume observed over Eastern Europe, approximately 75 minutes after launch | | |
| Test flight of an unidentified Indian missile | | None | | India, Myanmar, Bangladesh | An early evening test launch. Assumed to be of an Agni-V ICBM | | |
| Falcon 9 flight 152 | | Starlink Group 4–17 | Florida | An early-morning launch causing UFO reports | [ ] |
| Falcon 9 flight 126 | | Inspiration4 | | Florida | The first fully civilian crewed orbital spaceflight, launched from Cape Canaveral after sunset | |
| Soyuz-2.1.a launch | | Progress MS-17 | European Russia | A Soyuz-2.1a launched the Progress MS-17 to the International Space Station from Baikonur Site 31 on 29 June 2021. As the rocket reached the upper atmosphere the expanded rocket plume was illuminated by the Sun, creating a "jellyfish". | |
| Falcon 9 flight 114 | | | | Florida | A crewed Cape Canaveral launch in the pre-dawn. The "jellyfish" lasted over 10 minutes after liftoff. In addition to the "jellyfish" created by the second stage, the returning first stage also made visible plumes. | |
| Falcon 9 flight 62 | | | | California | A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk; causing UFO reports | [ ][ ][ ] |
| Falcon 9 flight 57 | | | | Florida | An East Coast launch off Florida, in the pre-dawn | |
| Soyuz-2.1.b launch | | Glonass-M satellite | European Russia | A launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome heading over the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, Russia | |
| Falcon 9 flight 46 | | [Iridium-NEXT launch SpaceX-4] | California | A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk | |
| Atlas V 551 AV-056 flight | | MUOS-4[U.S. Navy Mobile User Objective System satellite] | Florida | A Cape Canaveral launch in the pre-dawn | |
| | | Meteor-M2 weather satellite | European Russia | A launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | |
| RS-12M Topol-M nuclear missile test launch | | | | Eurasia | Launched from Kapustin Yar, Russia; to crash into Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan | |
| | | Kosmos 1188 | European Russia | A launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome resulted in a giant U-shaped jellyfish appearing over Moscow and Kalinin, Russia | |
| | | Kosmos 955 | Northern Europe | A launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome resulted in a jellyfish vapour trail seen over northern Europe, causing the UFO incident known as the "Petrozavodsk phenomenon" | |
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See also
Notes
Further reading
External links
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Associated Press, , 10 December 2009
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News4JAX (WJXT4), , 6 May 2022
