SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas on Thursday, marking the second consecutive failure of Elon Musk’s Mars rocket programme this year.
The incident led to flight disruptions over Florida and the Bahamas, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordering an investigation into the mishap.
Videos circulating on social media depicted fiery debris streaking across the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas following the Starship’s disintegration.
SpaceX’s live stream captured the upper stage of the spacecraft spinning uncontrollably with its engines shutting down before contact was lost.
The failure resulted in multiple flight diversions around Turks and Caicos, alongside temporary ground stops at four major Florida airports.
The FAA halted departures from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Palm Beach airports for over an hour before normal operations resumed at approximately 8 p.m. ET (0100 GMT on Friday). Passengers at these airports experienced delays averaging 45 minutes due to the disruption.
A statement from the FAA confirmed that a debris response area had been activated. “During the event, the FAA activated a debris response area and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location. Normal operations have resumed.”
Also read: SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launches ISRO’s GSAT-N2 from the US
The FAA has directed SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation into the loss of the Starship vehicle.
This latest failure follows a similar incident in January when Starship’s seventh flight ended in an explosive failure eight minutes into flight, scattering debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The back-to-back setbacks have raised concerns about the Starship programme’s reliability, particularly as SpaceX seeks to accelerate development this year.
Starship, measuring 403 feet (123 metres) in height, lifted off at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET (2330 GMT) from SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility in Texas.
The Super Heavy first-stage booster successfully executed a planned return landing.
However, minutes later, the Starship upper stage began to spin uncontrollably, with a visualisation indicating multiple engine shutdowns before the company confirmed that contact had been lost.
“Unfortunately, this happened last time too, so we’ve got some practice now,” said SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot during the live stream.
It remains unclear whether the explosion was triggered by SpaceX’s automated flight termination system, which is designed to activate when a serious malfunction occurs. However, signs of failure were evident before the detonation.o-
In a statement, SpaceX acknowledged the failure, saying, “During Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.”
With the Starship programme integral to Musk’s vision of interplanetary travel, the repeated failures underscore the challenges facing SpaceX.
Despite the setbacks, the company has vowed to press forward, learning from each mishap as it refines the world’s most powerful rocket system.
Also read: Starship test flight aimed for June 6: Elon Musk
Follow us
