PHOENIX — If you saw something unusual flying in the western Arizona sky on Monday night, don’t worry, it's not an alien — it’s a planned SpaceX rocket launch.
The launch window for SpaceX's Falcon 9 mission opened at 7:30 p.m., and it launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in southern California. The launch had originally been scheduled for Thursday night but was delayed until Monday.
Marking its 15th flight of the initial stage booster backing this mission, the first stage booster rocket landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" drone ship stationed in the Pacific Ocean. You can watch the entire launch below.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is "the world's first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more," according to the service's website.
The "constellation" of satellites consists of thousands of satellites that orbit Earth at an altitude of about 550 km, or 341 3/4 miles.
The satellites connect to antennas that users set up at their home to provide internet access.
What the SpaceX launch looked like in Arizona
Viewers from around Arizona have been posting their photos and videos of the launch on social media. Here's a look at some of them.
12News viewer Misti in Peoria sent in this video:
12News viewer Scott Bennighof sent in this video from Avondale:
And 12News viewer Diedre Pierce sent in this video of the launch from Glendale:
April 1, 2024 SpaceX Launch as seen over Arizona
And we want to see your photos and videos of tonight's SpaceX launch! You can send them to us on Facebook (12News), X (@12News), or Instagram (@12newsaz). You can also email them to us at connect@12news.com or you can upload them to the 12News app using the 'Near Me' tab.
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