Noctilucent clouds glow a spectrum of colors, as they hang over a Ormond Beach neighborhoor, in the early morning light, Wednesday December 4, 2024 a result of rocket vapor trails from the pre-dawn Space X launch.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will potentially carry Starlink internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit near NASA on Saturday, May 24, a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory shows.

Though rockets here launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center near Merritt Island, Florida, or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, people from the Treasure Coast can sometimes see this 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 Fun Coast.

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? No earlier than Saturday, May 24: SpaceX Starlink 12-22

Mission: SpaceX will launch a payload of Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket into low-Earth orbit, a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory indicates.
Launch window: 1:19 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 24, 2025
Launch location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida
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 Florida rocket launch in Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach area

• Mary McLeod Bethune Beach Park, 6656 S. Atlantic Ave., New Smyrna Beach. Bethune Beach is 3.5 miles south of New Smyrna Beach and one mile north of the Apollo Beach entrance to Canaveral National Seashore Park.

• Apollo Beach at Canaveral National Seashore (south of New Smyrna Beach). Canaveral National Seashore runs along Florida's East Coast in Volusia County and Brevard County. To access Apollo Beach, take Interstate 95 to exit 249, then travel east until it turns into State Road A1A. Follow SR A1A south to the park entrance.

• Sunrise Park, 275 River Road, Oak Hill

• Goodrich's Seafood and Oyster House back deck, 253 River Road, Oak Hill

• Seminole Rest national historic site, 211 River Road, Oak Hill

• Riverbreeze Park, 250 H.H. Burch Road, Oak Hill

• Mary Dewees Park, 178 N. Gaines St., Oak Hill

• Nancy Cummings Park, 232 Cummings St., Oak Hill

• Jimmie Vann Sunrise Park, 275 River Road, Oak Hill

• A.C. Delbert Dewees Municipal Pier, 243 River Road, Oak Hill

• Bird Observation Pier on River Road across from A.C. Delbert Municipal Pier (see above)

• Rose Bay in Port Orange, Florida

• beaches along New Smyrna Beach, Florida

• New Smyrna Beach Inlet, New Smyrna Beach lifeguard station

• Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach, Florida

• Ormond-by-the-Sea in Ormond Beach, Florida

• George R. Kennedy Memorial Park in Edgewater, Florida

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: SpaceX Memorial Day weekend rocket launch: Where to watch from Daytona, New Smyrna, Oak Hill