The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft rises above West Palm Beach, Florida, after its 5:49 a.m. launch from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, April 23, 2021. Aboard were 4 astronauts headed to the International Space Station for a 6-month stay. The first stage can be seen as a small dot as it fires its engines while it heads for a landing on a drone ship. The mission is the first time astronauts were launched on a recycled Falcon 9 rocket.

Can a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, be seen farther south, in Palm Beach County skies? If the conditions are right, yes!

Though rockets here launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center near Merritt Island, Florida, or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, people from West Palm Beach and Boca Raton can sometimes see this #SoFlorida phenomenon.

Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover, a rocket launch from Florida’s Space Coast could be visible from Jacksonville Beach and Daytona Beach to Vero Beach and West Palm Beach (see videos and photo gallery with this story). When there’s a launch window in the middle of the night or very early morning, there’s an opportunity for unique photos — the rocket lights up the dark sky and the contrail after makes for a great photo.

Below is more information on rocket launches in Florida and suggestions on where to watch them from the Palm Beach County area.

For questions or comments, email FLORIDA TODAY Space Reporter Rick Neale at [email protected] or Space Reporter Brooke Edwards at [email protected]. For more space news from the USA TODAY Network, visit floridatoday.com/space.

When is the next SpaceX rocket launch in Florida? Tuesday, May 20, 2025: SpaceX Starlink 12-15

Mission: SpaceX will launch a payload of Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket into low-Earth orbit, according to a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory.
Launch window time and day: 11:18 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Location of rocket launch: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida
Sonic booms: No
Trajectory: Southeast
Live coverage starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space: You can watch live rocket launch coverage from USA TODAY Network’s Space Team, which consists of FLORIDA TODAY space reporters Rick Neale and Brooke Edwards and visuals journalists Craig Bailey, Malcolm Denemark and Tim Shortt. Our Space Team will provide up-to-the-minute updates in a mobile-friendly live blog, complete with a countdown clock, at floridatoday.com/space, starting 90 minutes before liftoff. You can download the free FLORIDA TODAY app, which is available in the App Store or Google Play, or type floridatoday.com/space into your browser.

Where to see a Florida rocket launch in Palm Beach County: What does a West Palm Beach rocket launch view look like?

Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover, some rocket launches from the Space Coast can be visible in Palm Beach County. When there’s a launch window in the middle of the night or very early morning, with a southeast trajectory, there’s an opportunity for unique photos. Some examples include United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket launch and SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

From Cape Canaveral, Florida, to West Palm Beach, Florida, it's about 150 miles.

Rocket launches from Cape Canaveral can often be seen from Palm Beach County, and it can be as easy as walking out of your house and looking north. Try to get away from any obstructions, such as trees, tall buildings, and bright lights. Obviously, cloud cover can also get in the way.

If the forecast is for clear skies and you want a better view, some good places to watch the rocket launch from Palm Beach County include:

Juno Beach Pier: 14775 U.S. 1, Juno Beach
South Cove Natural Area boardwalk: Downtown West Palm Beach, 620 South Flagler Drive
Town of Palm Beach's Midtown beach: 300 block of South Ocean Boulevard
Bingham Island: If you don't know, this is the island that connects Palm Beach and West Palm Beach on Southern Boulevard (near Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club known as the Winter White House or Southern White House). There's a bridge with a pedestrian walkway over Bingham Island, on Southern Boulevard.
Lake Worth Pier: 10 South Ocean Blvd., Lake Worth Beach
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge: 10216 Lee Road, Boynton Beach
South Beach Park: 400 N. State Road A1A, Boca Raton

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: SpaceX rocket launch in Florida: What time is liftoff? Where to watch in West Palm Beach