If your noontime commute was interrupted by state troopers escorting a truck carrying an oversized load through the streets of Maricopa, you have Elon Musk and his spacecraft company to thank.
A truck carrying a SpaceX first-stage empty rocket ship temporarily stalled traffic as it drove south on John Wayne Parkway after entering the city this afternoon, the Arizona Department of Transportation confirmed.
“It’s the same thing you saw in February; it is a SpaceX first stage empty rocket en route from New Mexico to California,” said ADOT spokesperson Steve Elliott.
The last time a SpaceX rocket traveled through Maricopa was in late February when the oversized truck miraculously cleared a 90-degree turn onto John Wayne Parkway from Honeycutt Road.
Currently, SpaceX does not have any launches planned from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the ultimate destination for rockets passing through Maricopa.
