On October 13, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:33 a.m. EDT. Because the launch happened near sunrise, sunlight caught the rocket's exhaust high in the atmosphere, creating a glowing, jellyfish-like plume that was visible across the eastern United States.
The flight was SpaceX's 35th commercial resupply mission for NASA. Its Dragon spacecraft carried the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSAs), along with supplies and equipment. The solar arrays are scheduled for installation later this fall to help power the orbiting laboratory.
Several science payloads are aboard. One experiment will test manufacturing artificial retinas in microgravity, which could lead to treatments for vision loss. Another will use 3D heart tissue models to improve drug testing in space. Researchers also sent brain organoids to study neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis, and will examine how a new type of glass forms in microgravity.