Following a recent test flight explosion, SpaceX’s ambitious Starship rocket had another misstep, and falling debris halted several airplanes in Florida. The challenges of producing the world’s most powerful spacecraft were further brought into perspective by this latest incident, which occurred months after a previous failed attempt at launch.
The behemoth 403-foot rocket launched from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at around 6:30 PM Eastern Time (12:30 AM UK time). But barely a few minutes into the flight, communication was lost as the spacecraft went out of control and spiralled. Starship, which is intended to be a central part of future missions to the moon and Mars, was supposed to do a controlled re-entry over the Indian Ocean, but a surprise malfunction resulted in a catastrophic failure.
As the rocket blazed east, engines at the top of the vehicle started to shut down. Moments later, burning debris was seen over Florida and the Caribbean, and photos of the event quickly spread on the internet. Where exactly the rocket landed is still unclear.
In a statement, SpaceX confirmed the failure, which was a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” of the rocket as it climbed. The company assured that its crew had started working immediately with safety authorities to enact contingency steps.
“We will examine data from today’s flight test to get a better sense of the underlying cause. Success always comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will provide further lessons to make Starship more reliable,” the company added.
In spite of the explosion, the mission was not entirely unsuccessful, as the Super Heavy booster, which is an important part of the rocket, was recovered successfully. The booster was grabbed by enormous mechanical claws and returned safely to the launch pad, representing a major leap in SpaceX’s aim to establish a fully reusable launch system.
Among the eyewitnesses to the explosion was biotechnology consultant Bret Bostwick, who observed the launch from a catamaran off Ragged Island in the Bahamas.
“I was standing there with my boys, seven and nine years old, and then suddenly, you know, boom! It just became a big ball of fire, really no sound,” he said. “So there wasn’t really a boom at that time, but just a large fireball. And both my children realized right away it had blown up again. We had witnessed Starship seven blow up. So we’re sort of, I suppose, little specialists down here at recognizing the explosion.”
Bostwick outlined the theatrics of the scene. “A fireball was on the horizon, and then it came over, right over the top of our boat. It was more like a big firework display with big streamers of various debris falling down, and each piece of the ship seemed to glow a different color.”
He observed that the blast seemed to occur at about the same location as the earlier unsuccessful test. “Hopefully, they’ll learn, and it’ll get a little further next time,” he said.
As a reaction to the accident, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted a temporary ground stop, forcing several flights at major Florida airports such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando to be delayed. The advisory was valid up until 8 PM (1 AM UK time), resulting in an average delay of 45 minutes for departures. The FAA further declared that SpaceX has to perform a comprehensive investigation into the incident before any subsequent launch is to be certified.
This is the second significant failure of a Starship test flight in recent months. An earlier attempt in January also ended in a similar fashion, with the rocket exploding over the Bahamas eight minutes into its flight. That explosion scattered fiery debris across the sky over the Turks and Caicos, although no injuries or significant damage were reported.
After the January accident, SpaceX founder Elon Musk went to X (formerly Twitter) to post initial observations on the failure. “Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity,” he said.
SpaceX is committed to refining the technology behind Starship, which will be a critical vehicle for future deep-space missions, despite these challenges. The company’s long-term goal is to develop an entirely reusable spacecraft capable of carrying humans to Mars, the Moon, and beyond. Each failed test provides critical information, bringing SpaceX closer to achieving this ambitious vision.
