SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 35th resupply mission with 6,300 pounds

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched NASA's 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission at 6:33 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket carried a Dragon spacecraft loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and hardware bound for the International Space Station.pantherswire.usatoday.com+1

The launch matters because it delivers the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays, completing the station's power system augmentation. The new arrays will boost available electricity for research, operations, and the station's safe, controlled deorbit. Astronauts will install the arrays during a series of spacewalks planned for later this fall, according to NASA.nasa.gov

What the mission carries

Beyond the solar arrays, Dragon carries new scientific experiments including hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity that could help restore vision for patients on Earth. The cargo also includes 3D heart tissue models to advance large-scale drug testing on future space missions, materials to study how a new type of glass forms in microgravity, and brain organoids that could uncover treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis.

About nine minutes after liftoff, Dragon separated from the rocket's second stage, opened its nosecone, and began a series of thruster firings to reach the space station, according to NASA. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock autonomously at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 15 October, to the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module — about 52 hours after launch. NASA will stream rendezvous and docking coverage beginning at 9:15 a.m.

The pre-dawn timing of the launch produced a glowing, tentacled plume that residents across the southeastern United States described as a "space jellyfish." Although the sky was still dark on the ground, the sun was already shining on the upper atmosphere. As the rocket rose to high altitudes, its exhaust gases expanded rapidly in the thin air and were illuminated by sunlight, creating a glowing, rounded cloud with trailing streaks.

Why the sky glowed

The phenomenon depends on clear skies and launch times within a narrow window around dawn or dusk. Because the observer on the ground remains in darkness, the sunlit plume stands out sharply against the night sky, making it appear to glow from within. The plume was visible as far away as Roanoke, Virginia, more than 500 miles to the north of the launch site.

Residents across Central Florida reported seeing a bright, bulb-shaped cloud with wispy trails trailing beneath it as the rocket climbed toward orbit. Photos submitted to Orlando television station WKMG showed the phenomenon from locations including Oviedo, Davenport, Orlando, and Lake City. In Tennessee, the rocket was visible from East Tennessee and other parts of the state, with Reddit users posting images from Halls, Johnson City, and Strawberry Plains.

Dragon is the only cargo spacecraft currently serving the station that can bring experiments back to Earth intact, a capability scientists rely on to study samples in laboratories on the ground. The spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until mid-November, when it will depart and return to Earth with time-critical research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.

The International Space Station is scheduled to end its orbital operations at the end of 2030. NASA has been working with commercial companies to develop privately operated space stations to eventually replace it. SpaceX has flown cargo missions to the station for NASA since 2012, and the current missions are flown under NASA's second Commercial Resupply Services contract. Dragon's arrival is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday, 15 October, when it docks to the space-facing port of the Harmony module. After docking, Crew-13 will begin unpacking the cargo, and astronauts will install the final roll-out solar arrays during spacewalks planned for later this fall.