A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket created a pre-dawn light show visible from Florida to New York City on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, as it launched 29 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket lifted off at 5:33 a.m. and left an illuminated exhaust plume that stretched across the Eastern Seaboard. The first-stage booster landed successfully on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean, marking SpaceX's 37th booster landing. This was the company's first launch of the month and the 142nd overall mission from the East Coast. The flight path took the rocket on a northeasterly trajectory, allowing residents from Brevard County to the New York metropolitan area to see the glowing plume. SpaceX's website noted the mission was part of its ongoing Starlink constellation deployment, which aims to provide global broadband internet. The next major launch on the Eastern Range is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, when a SpaceX Falcon Heavy will carry NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A. The telescope is designed to study dark energy and dark matter, with a field of view 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope. The Roman Space Telescope will be positioned at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, where it will map billions of galaxies and search for exoplanets. The launch window for the Falcon Heavy is targeted for 7:26 a.m. on Aug. 30, though weather and technical factors could delay the mission. SpaceX and NASA have not yet confirmed if the telescope will be carried on a Falcon Heavy or a modified Falcon 9. Local residents and space enthusiasts can track launch schedules and updates through the Florida Today website or by signing up for the 321 Launch newsletter. The upcoming missions highlight the continued importance of Brevard County as a hub for space exploration and commercial launches.