What Lit Up the Arizona Sky Last Night?

If you took a step outside in the Grand Canyon state on the evening of March 18th, 2024, you likely thought the end times were here.

At around 8 p.m. that night, the Arizona sky lit up with wisps of white light. It may have looked like a comet passing too close to the earth's atmosphere, but the heavenly light's origin is much more terrestrial.

I Just Need Space(X)

The rapture had not come for Arizonans last night. Instead, the massive scar against the night sky was the result of aerospace company SpaceX. Owned by billionaire Elon Musk (Tesla, Twitter, Neuralink), the company focuses on building reusable rockets and satellites to hopefully push mankind closer to the stars.

Currently, SpaceX is pushing the usage of their Starlink satellites, which integrate into Musk's own internet company. Many SpaceX missions have gone up, unmanned, for the sole purpose of releasing the Starlink satellites into orbit.

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Blaze of Glory

Those Starlink satellites are the reason behind the vibrant light in the Arizona sky. At 7:45 p.m. on the 18th, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force base in Santa Barbara, California.

Falcon 9 rockets are meant to be partially reusable, landing fuel cells and other integral parts of the rocket near rescue teams to be used for the next planned launch.

The rocket's flight path fell over Arizona, and the trail of rocket fuel, combined with the releasing Starlink satellites, created a one of a kind sight in the Valley sky.

It's unknown when the next launch to cross over Arizona is, but keep an eye out for any more in the future, it's not a sight you want to miss.