A rare oversized load is slowly making its way through Kansas, and Fairview was among one of the first pit stops in the state.

On Friday, July 28, SpaceX parked overnight at Bert’s Express in Fairview before leaving early Saturday, July 29, to continue its long trek across the Sunflower State.

The Kansas Department of Transportation announced last week that the oversized load would be making its way across the state using mostly rural highways, but would also use “portions of I-70, U.S. Highway 77 and U.S. Highway 56.”

The shipment — which is 300 feet long, 18 feet wide and 14 feet, three inches tall — entered Kansas on U.S. Highway 36 at St. Joseph, Mo., and was expected to leave the state on U.S. Highway 56 at Elkhart, Kan. — weather permitting — by Tuesday, Aug. 1.

The 700,000-pound shipment — which was expected to be traveling at approximately 45 miles per hour — is headed to Texas.

Highways and Interstates in Kansas that were expected to be used include U.S. Highway 36, Kansas Highway 99, Kansas Highway 9, U.S. Highway 77, Kansas Highway 57, U.S. Highway 77, I-70, Kansas Highway 15, Kansas Highway 18, U.S. Highway 81, I-135, U.S. Highway 56, U.S. Highway 281, U.S. Highway 160, U.S. Highway 183, U.S. Highway 54, U.S. Highway 160, and U.S. Highway 83.

A similar shipment passed through Kansas in May and took up both lanes of traffic.

Where is SpaceX Now?

Early Saturday morning, July 29, the SpaceX load was seen driving through Frankfort, Kan.

At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, July 30, the SpaceX load was located in Great Bend, Kan.

At 9 a.m. Monday, July 31, the SpaceX load was located on U.S. Highway 160 in Medicine Lodge, Kan.

SpaceX parked overnight in Moscow, Kan., on Monday, July 31, and was in Hugoton at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1.

What is SpaceX?

According to SpaceX.com, SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2022 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space technology.

According to the website, “SpaceX believes a fully and rapidly reusable rocket is the pivotal breakthrough needed to substantially reduce the cost of space access. The majority of the launch cost comes from building the rocket, which historically has flown only once. Compare that to a commercial airliner – each new plane costs about the same as Falcon 9 but can fly multiple times per day and conduct tens of thousands of flights over its lifetime. Following the commercial model, a rapidly reusable space launch vehicle could reduce the cost of traveling to space by a hundredfold. While most rockets are designed to burn up on reentry, SpaceX rockets can not only withstand reentry, but can also successfully land back on Earth and refly again.”

SpaceX Locations

SpaceX has multiple facilities across the United States include a building facility in Hawthorne, Calif., Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and a Testing Facility in McGregor, Texas.