A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after its launch from Texas on Thursday, forcing flights over the Gulf of Mexico to change course to avoid debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program.
SpaceX mission control lost contact with the recently upgraded Starship, carrying the first test payload of fake but unmanned satellites, eight minutes after liftoff from the rocket facilities in South Texas at 5: 38 pm ET.
Video shot by Reuters showed balls of orange light streaking across the sky over the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving trails of smoke behind. “We lost all communication with the spacecraft – that pretty much tells us we had an anomaly with the platform,” SpaceX Communications Manager Dan Huot confirmed moments later that the ship was lost.
The last time Starship's stage failed was last March, as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, but a rare SpaceX accident caused widespread disruption to air traffic.
Aircraft had to divert
Dozens of commercial flights diverted to other airports or changed course to avoid debris, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. Departures from airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., were also delayed by about 45 minutes, he said.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates private launch operations, said it had diverted planes and moved around the area where space debris was falling, but operations were normal. started again.
The FAA routinely closes airfields for space launches and re-entries, but can create a “debris response zone” to prevent aircraft from entering if the spacecraft feels anomaly outside the zone originally closed.
SpaceX CEO Musk posted a video on X showing the debris field and said: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
The failure came a day after Blue Origin, Amazon Billionaire Jeff Bezos' space company, successfully launched its giant New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.
A higher version of the preview
The Starship platform, two meters taller than previous versions, was a “new generation ship with significant upgrades,” SpaceX said in a mission description before the test. It was expected to make a controlled splash in the Indian Ocean about an hour after its launch in Texas.
Musk said a preliminary assessment of the failure showed an internal leak of liquid oxygen fuel building up pressure and leading to the rocket's rupture.
The FAA is likely to open an accident investigation that would launch Starship – as the agency has done in the past – and investigate whether debris from the rocket's mid-flight explosion fell on populated areas or outside of Starship's predetermined danger zone. .
The accident threatens to derail Musk's goal of launching at least 12 Starship tests this year, depending on how quickly SpaceX can implement fixes and whether the FAA opening an accident investigation.
Musk criticizes FAA
“Nothing so far suggests the next release will be launched next month,” Musk said.
The billionaire, who was appointed to a new cost-cutting government post by US president-elect Donald Trump, has repeatedly criticized the FAA for overreaching and making political decisions. .
