After leaving the DEA, Arpaio became involved in a travel venture through his wife's travel agency Starworld Travel Agency, based in Scottsdale. While there, he sold passage on the Phoenix E space rocket, which was hoped to take off from either Edwards Air Force Base or Vandenberg Air Force Base on the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the new world. Although he claimed in 1988 that the first 19 flights of the Phoenix E had been booked, no flights were ever made.