# Space jellyfish

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. Sightings of the phenomenon have led to panic, fear of nuclear missile strike, and reports of unidentified flying objects.

## List of rocket launches causing space jellyfish

| Rocket launch | Payload | Date | Location | Summary |
| Firefly Alpha flight FLTA005 | Eight CubeSats | 3 July 2024 | Vandenberg Space Force Base | |
| Falcon 9 flight 361 | Starlink Group 9-1 | 18 June 2024 | Vandenberg Space Force Base | |
| Falcon 9 flight 339 | Starlink Group 6-63 | 24 May 2024 | Florida | Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. |
| Falcon 9 flight 338 | Starlink Group 6-62 | 23 May 2024 | Florida | Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. |
| Falcon 9 flight 232 | Transporter 8 | 12 June 2023 | Vandenberg Space Force Base | Afternoon launch – plume observed over Eastern Europe, approximately 75 minutes after launch |
| Test flight of an unidentified Indian missile | None | 15 December 2022 | India, Myanmar, Bangladesh | An early evening test launch. Assumed to be of an Agni-V ICBM |
| Falcon 9 flight 152 | Starlink Group 4–17 | 6 May 2022 | Florida | An early-morning launch causing UFO reports |
| Falcon 9 flight 126 | Inspiration4 | 15 September 2021 | Florida | The first fully civilian crewed orbital spaceflight, launched from Cape Canaveral after sunset |
| Soyuz-2.1.a launch | Progress MS-17 | 29 June 2021 | 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 | SpaceX Crew-2 | 23 April 2021 | 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 | SAOCOM 1A | 8 October 2018 | California | A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk; causing UFO reports |
| Falcon 9 flight 57 | SpaceX CRS-15 | 29 June 2018 | Florida | An East Coast launch off Florida, in the pre-dawn |
| Soyuz-2.1.b launch | Glonass-M satellite | 17 June 2018 | European Russia | A launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome heading over the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, Russia |
| Falcon 9 flight 46 | SpaceX Iridium 4 | 22 December 2017 | California | A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk |
| Atlas V 551 AV-056 flight | MUOS-4 | 2 September 2015 | Florida | A Cape Canaveral launch in the pre-dawn |
| | Meteor-M2 weather satellite | 8 July 2014 | European Russia | A launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan |
| RS-12M Topol-M nuclear missile test launch | — | 10 October 2013 | Eurasia | Launched from Kapustin Yar, Russia; to crash into Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan |
| | Kosmos 1188 | 14 June 1980 | European Russia | A launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome resulted in a giant U-shaped jellyfish appearing over Moscow and Kalinin, Russia |
| | Kosmos 955 | 20 September 1977 | 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" |