On Thursday evening, SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft met with catastrophe, exploding just minutes after its launch from Texas. This incident marks the second consecutive failure for Elon Musk’s Mars rocket program this year, as the spacecraft aimed to deploy mock satellites. Eyewitnesses captured several videos on social media, showcasing fiery debris illuminating the dusk skies over southern Florida and the Bahamas following the spacecraft's breakup in space.
The failure occurred shortly after the Starship began spinning uncontrollably with its engines cut off. According to a SpaceX livestream of the mission, the rocket was launched at approximately 6:30 PM ET (2300 GMT) from SpaceX’s extensive facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. The initial phase appeared successful, with the Super Heavy first-stage booster returning to land as planned. However, moments later, the livestream displayed troubling visuals of the upper stage spinning in space, with multiple engines shutting down before communication was lost.
“Unfortunately, this happened last time, too, so we’ve got some practice now,” remarked Dan Huot, a spokesperson for SpaceX, during the livestream. It’s worth noting that the rocket was not carrying any astronauts at the time of the launch. Following the explosion, SpaceX promptly halted the livestream, providing no immediate information regarding where the debris might have fallen.
SpaceX later issued a statement online, indicating that “the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost.” The company has confirmed that its team is working closely with safety officials and will conduct a thorough review of the flight data to ascertain the root cause of the explosion. They emphasized, “Success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship’s reliability.”
As debris scattered over parts of the Caribbean, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took precautionary measures by temporarily issuing ground stops for commercial flights at Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando airports due to “space launch debris.” This restriction remained in effect until at least 8 PM ET, with flights also being rerouted around the Turks and Caicos region.
The FAA has initiated a mishap investigation into the incident, requiring SpaceX to thoroughly examine the cause of the failure and secure the agency’s approval before the Starship can attempt another flight. This latest setback in Starship’s launch attempts significantly impacts Musk’s ambitious vision for the rocket, which aims to facilitate larger batches of satellite deployments and eventually transport humans to the Moon and Mars.
It’s important to note that this failure follows a similar incident on January 16, when the Starship's inaugural launch ended in an explosion eight minutes into flight, resulting in debris raining over Caribbean islands. The previous explosion was attributed to a fire igniting near the ship’s liquid oxygen tank. Following that incident, the FAA had ordered a temporary grounding of commercial flights and mandated an investigation by SpaceX. The company has since claimed to have implemented changes to the fuel lines and fuel temperature to prevent future occurrences.
