A Chinese Rocket’s Experimental Fuel Dump Could be Seen in Colorado Skies

The skies over Colorado were something to see for some folks in Colorado on May 17, 2025. The sky was lit up, with an unexpected white streak, after a rocket from China expelled (dumped) some fuel.

Chinese Rocket Zhuque-2 Delivers Satellites, Dumps Experimental Fuel

If you were outside in Colorado at about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday May 17, 2025, you may have seen what looked like a "white streak" across the sky. I'll bet it was very neat to see on a brisk late spring night.

According to MSN, a private space launch provider in China, known as Landspace (who's website is a security threat in the U.S.,) launched a rocket to deploy a few satellites; it was a big deal, showing the progress of commercial spaceflight operations out of China.

What's really unique about this rocket, is that is uses liquid oxygen and liquid methane as its fuel, and that's what lit up the skies that night. If you Google "methane as fuel" you'll see it listed as "being explored;" hence, it's an experimental fuel that China is using.

Before the rocket came back to Earth and burned up in re-entry, it did a "fuel dump" which froze into a ribbon of small crystals. Those crystals, in turn, reflected the sun's light towards Earth. That "sunlight" could be seen over Colorado and a few other states, according to Newsbreak.

I'm bummed that I didn't see it, but it seems like the Western Slope had the better chance at seeing it, as a professional photographer in Crestone captured the sight.