Three views of SpaceX ascent after launch: Fountain Hills, Arizona; ASU in Tempe, and passenger jet cockpit (Multiple sources/Michael Ginsberg/CARDINAL NEWS). YouTube Tips ⓘ
SpaceX launched 28 Starlink satellites from its Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday evening, September 28, 2025, which was visible in skies over Southern California and Arizona. CARDINAL NEWS received two videos and one photo from three individual sources Sunday night — one from a resident in Fountain Hills, Arizona; one from a citizen at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona; and one from a commercial jet pilot mid-flight heading west for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
According to SpaceX, the Sunday launch of a Falcon 9 with 28 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit was scheduled from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The liftoff was scheduled for Sunday at 6:28 p.m. PT with a window open until 8:32 p.m., according to Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Launch time was 7:04 p.m. PDT, and the ascent over the Phoenix, Arizona area was about 7:10 p.m. MST.
Pacific Daylight Time and Mountain Standard Time are the same time in September. Central Daylight Time is two hours ahead of PDT and MST.
The rocket and trail were visible in the southwest sky over the Phoenix metropolitan area in Arizona moving from west to east around 7:10 p.m. and following.
SpaceX disclosed that following the first stage separation, the first stage lands on the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship, which was positioned in the Pacific Ocean. The mission is the 28th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket from California with 28 optimized Starlink v2 Mini internet satellites. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base was scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 28, at 7:04 p.m. PDT / 10:04 p.m. EDT (Launch begins just after 17:00 elapsed time in video). YouTube Tips ⓘ
