Charleston, S.C. — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:33 a.m. Tuesday, and within minutes the rocket and its trail could be seen in morning skies along the South Carolina coast, including downtown Charleston and Folly Beach.
NASA said the flight was the agency’s 35th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission, carrying more than 6,300 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the International Space Station aboard a Dragon spacecraft.
Residents and photographers shared images from Rutledge Avenue downtown, Folly Beach, Moncks Corner, Hilton Head Island and Fripp Island as the vapor trail crossed Lowcountry skies.
The uncrewed Dragon was expected to deliver cargo on Thursday after the Tuesday liftoff, continuing a string of Cape Canaveral launches that often put South Carolina coastal communities under the flight path glow.
Charleston Police Department’s night-shift team posted an image of the rocket above the city as the trail lingered after sunrise.
