A SpaceX Falcon 9 crosses the face of the newly risen Sun roughly 20 seconds into flight during this morning's Starlink 10-50 launch (July 5, 2026, 6:50 a.m. EDT) from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission deployed 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites; the first stage, B1090, flying its 13th mission, landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
This flight also carried a secondary payload mounted on the booster itself: two Fabships from Besxar (@BesxarFoundry), pilot reusable manufacturing pods testing how semiconductor wafers hold up through the stresses of launch and re-entry.
Shot from roughly 9.7 miles west-southwest of the pad, which required a pre-dawn half mile hike each way to reach the right alignment for the transit. Ripples along the edge of the solar disk are shock waves from the vehicle's passage bending the atmosphere's index of refraction.
Starlink 10-50 by SpaceX
Sunrise + Falcon 9: At 6:50 a.m. (ET) Sunday, SpaceX launched the Starlink 10-50 mission, seen here from Merritt Island, Florida.
It was much cloudier than I'd hoped; I caught a usable gap, and at the last moment decided to go without a filter. This was a pretty lucky shot. At the time, I cursed the clouds, but the moodiness of the frame is growing on me.
Cessna and the Moon
A Cessna 172S Skyhawk harassing the Moon over the Space Coast seen through thin clouds, lending the scene a dreamy vibe.
Epic Flight Academy N221EP was traveling south out of New Smyrna Beach (QQB) at 3,800 feet & 105 knots.
ߓ纭e, June 26, 2026; flight data: Flightradar24.com
SXM-11 by SpaceX / Antonov AN-124
An ANTONOV Company AN-124 watching the Sunday night SpaceX Falcon 9 launch carrying the SXM-11 payload.
This was the view from Sheltair at Melbourne Orlando International Airport - MLB, where the plane was overnighting, waiting for big payload to be loaded.
The plane departed Monday morning, bound for the Pacific Northwest.
This was from one of my backup cameras, a well-used Canon USA 90D with an EF17-40mm lens, shot at ISO250, f22 and 192-secs.
SXM-11 by SpaceX / Antonov AN-124
At 10:25 p.m. ET on Sunday (6/28), SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket, sending the SXM-11 satellite into orbit.
This was the view in a 259-second exposure captured from Sheltair at Melbourne Orlando International Airport - MLB where the world's largest production cargo aircraft, an Antonov An-124, was spending the night waiting for some large and probably heavy cargo ahead of its expected Monday morning departure.
Huge thanks to Sheltair, a genuinely pro outfit, for having the capability to tend to a plane like this, and for hosting a very special frame. The An-124 alone is a novelty; one with a rocket arc in the background is something else entirely, basically, a very Space Coast scene.
Southwest with views of the Moon
Nobody on that flight paid for the Moon view (probably). Revenue opportunity, Southwest Airlines?
That's a Boeing 737 MAX 8 (N9010T) transiting the 97% Moon over the Space Coast Saturday night. SWA191 was traveling from Orlando (MCO) to San Juan (SJU) at 15,000 feet (and climbing) and 405 knots
ð·:me, flight data: Flightradar24.com
777 and the Moon
"Passengers on the left side of the plane might have a great view of the Waxing Moon" (this pilot, maybe)
That's American Airlines 488 cruising over the Space Coast Monday (6/22). The Boeing 777-223 ER (reg N760AN) was traveling from Charlotte (CLT) to Miami (MIA) at 39,875 ft & 464 kts.
ߓ纭e, flight data: Flightradar24.com
Solar Transit
Monday solar transit hat trick from the Space Coast:
And the third, 5 mins later, a Boeing 737-724 (reg N23708). United 1050 was traveling from New York (EWR) to Key West (EYW) @ 37,975 ft & 447 kts.
All shot at ISO640, f13 and 1/5000-sec with a Canon USA R5mii and RF200-800mm & 1.4x TC (with a proper solar filter, ND100000).
And a (intentionally vague) shout-out to John Kraus Photos for the collaboration on these shots.
📷:me, flight data: Flightradar24.com
Solar Transit
Monday solar transit hat trick from the Space Coast:
Next up, 10 mins later, a Boeing 737-823 (reg N979NN). American Airlines 3228 was traveling from Chicago (ORD) to Montego Bay (MBJ) @ 37,000 ft & 447 kts.
All shot at ISO640, f13 and 1/5000-sec with a Canon USA R5mii and RF200-800mm & 1.4x TC (with a proper solar filter, ND100000).
And a (intentionally vague) shout-out to John Kraus Photos for the collaboration on these shots.
📷:me, flight data: Flightradar24.com
Solar Transit
Monday solar transit hat trick from the Space Coast:
First up, an Airbus A319-115 (reg N9013A). American Airlines 1898 was traveling from Philadelphia (PHL) to Key West (EYW) @ 38,025 ft & 446 kts.
All shot at ISO640, f13 and 1/5000-sec with a Canon USA R5mii and RF200-800mm & 1.4x TC (with a proper solar filter, ND100000).
And a (intentionally vague) shout-out to John Kraus Photos for the collaboration on these shots.
ߓ纭e, flight data: Flightradar24.com
That wasn't thunder you thought you heard, Space Coast: At 2:39 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the BlueBird 8-10 mission to orbit from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
This was the view from Melbourne and the Eau Gallie Causeway.
The "Argonaut" was a subject for a launch shot back in January 2025, when it had washed ashore. I was surprised to see it again up against the causeway, but, photographically, at least, it's better-positioned this time.
Queen of the Skies meets the Moon
The Queen of the Skies transits the Sun: N415MC, an Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Boeing 747-47UF freighter, en route Sunday from Anchorage (ANC) to Miami (MIA) at 34,000 ft & 500 sts as it crossed the Space Coast. One of a shrinking fleet of jumbos still earning their keep.
Details:
ISO500, f13 and 1/5000-sec with a Canon USA R5mii & RF200-800mm w/ a 1.4x TC, so 1120mm, shot through an ND100000 solar filter, handheld (!).
ð·:me, flight data:
Flightradar24.com
Solar Transit
A Boeing 737-932 (reg N836DN) photobombing the Sun Sunday afternoon over the Space Coast of Florida.
Delta Air Lines 2129 was traveling from Minneapolis (MSP) to Miami (MIA) at 29,450 ft & 492 kts.
ð·: me; flight data: Flightradar24.com
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
Friday night (June 5, 2026) sunset at the Ponce Inlet
This has become an annual pilgrimage of sorts. It’s a rare enough shot because the alignment only works around the Summer Solstice, when the Sun sets the furthest North on the Western horizon, making this alignment with the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse possible. The jetty at Smyrna Dunes Park, on the opposite side of the inlet, is over a mile from the lighthouse, which means, through an 800mm lens, the Sun appears as a giant ball relative to the lighthouse.
This is the 4th year I’ve made the trip, and each year the conditions have been different. This year, I was expecting Saharan dust to mute the scene; instead, the Sun appeared much brighter. And it was a minimalist scene, with no people on the lighthouse and few birds. (There was a helicopter, but it wasn’t really close enough to be useful.)
It was a lovely scene, well worth the trip.
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
Friday night (June 5, 2026) sunset at the Ponce Inlet
This has become an annual pilgrimage of sorts. It’s a rare enough shot because the alignment only works around the Summer Solstice, when the Sun sets the furthest North on the Western horizon, making this alignment with the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse possible. The jetty at Smyrna Dunes Park, on the opposite side of the inlet, is over a mile from the lighthouse, which means, through an 800mm lens, the Sun appears as a giant ball relative to the lighthouse.
This is the 4th year I’ve made the trip, and each year the conditions have been different. This year, I was expecting Saharan dust to mute the scene; instead, the Sun appeared much brighter. And it was a minimalist scene, with no people on the lighthouse and few birds. (There was a helicopter, but it wasn’t really close enough to be useful.)
It was a lovely scene, well worth the trip.
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
Friday night (June 5, 2026) sunset at the Ponce Inlet
This has become an annual pilgrimage of sorts. It’s a rare enough shot because the alignment only works around the Summer Solstice, when the Sun sets the furthest North on the Western horizon, making this alignment with the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse possible. The jetty at Smyrna Dunes Park, on the opposite side of the inlet, is over a mile from the lighthouse, which means, through an 800mm lens, the Sun appears as a giant ball relative to the lighthouse.
This is the 4th year I’ve made the trip, and each year the conditions have been different. This year, I was expecting Saharan dust to mute the scene; instead, the Sun appeared much brighter. And it was a minimalist scene, with no people on the lighthouse and few birds. (There was a helicopter, but it wasn’t really close enough to be useful.)
It was a lovely scene, well worth the trip.
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
Friday night (June 5, 2026) sunset at the Ponce Inlet
This has become an annual pilgrimage of sorts. It’s a rare enough shot because the alignment only works around the Summer Solstice, when the Sun sets the furthest North on the Western horizon, making this alignment with the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse possible. The jetty at Smyrna Dunes Park, on the opposite side of the inlet, is over a mile from the lighthouse, which means, through an 800mm lens, the Sun appears as a giant ball relative to the lighthouse.
This is the 4th year I’ve made the trip, and each year the conditions have been different. This year, I was expecting Saharan dust to mute the scene; instead, the Sun appeared much brighter. And it was a minimalist scene, with no people on the lighthouse and few birds. (There was a helicopter, but it wasn’t really close enough to be useful.)
It was a lovely scene, well worth the trip.
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
Friday night (June 5, 2026) sunset at the Ponce Inlet
This has become an annual pilgrimage of sorts. It’s a rare enough shot because the alignment only works around the Summer Solstice, when the Sun sets the furthest North on the Western horizon, making this alignment with the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse possible. The jetty at Smyrna Dunes Park, on the opposite side of the inlet, is over a mile from the lighthouse, which means, through an 800mm lens, the Sun appears as a giant ball relative to the lighthouse.
This is the 4th year I’ve made the trip, and each year the conditions have been different. This year, I was expecting Saharan dust to mute the scene; instead, the Sun appeared much brighter. And it was a minimalist scene, with no people on the lighthouse and few birds. (There was a helicopter, but it wasn’t really close enough to be useful.)
It was a lovely scene, well worth the trip.
