SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, carrying 27 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites on the Starlink 15-25 mission. The rocket climbed on a southerly trajectory along the California coast to reach an orbit inclined 70 degrees to the Equator. SpaceX said the satellites were planned for deployment into an orbit about 266 kilometers high a little more than an hour after liftoff.
The first stage, booster serial B1088, flew for a twentieth time on this mission, according to SpaceX. The company noted the booster had previously supported the NROL-126, Transporter-12, SPHEREx, NROL-57 and USSF-366 missions, plus fourteen prior Starlink delivery runs. SpaceX reported the booster reunited with the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You about eight and a half minutes after launch.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg, a site routinely used for polar and high-inclination payloads. SpaceX identified the mission as Starlink 15-25 and said the payload consisted of the V2 Mini Optimized satellites designed for the Starlink constellation. The company described the timeline as including first-stage recovery followed by upper-stage maneuvers to deploy the batch into the target low Earth orbit.
Early Morning Cape Canaveral Launch Produces Bright Jellyfish Cloud Over Lowcountry
A separate SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral created a vivid pre-dawn display observed across the Lowcountry of South Carolina. WCIV reported the early morning plume produced what viewers called a jellyfish cloud, a glowing formation visible in the dark sky minutes after liftoff.
WCIV explained that the jellyfish effect appears when a rocket reaches roughly eighty to one hundred miles altitude and the exhaust plume expands while sunlight illuminates it from above as the ground remains dark. The station invited readers to submit photos and carried video reaction segments showing local residents watching the spectacle.
Both events underline SpaceX's routine cadence of Falcon 9 missions and public visibility when launches occur near populated coastlines. The Vandenberg flight emphasized operational reuse and constellation replenishment, while the Cape Canaveral launch highlighted how orbital launches can produce striking visual phenomena for observers on the ground.
