SpaceX Starship explosion causes scrambled flights as debris rains down over Atlantic

BOCA CHICA, Texas – For the second time in seven weeks, a major explosion aboard a SpaceX rocket sent planes scrambling for safety after debris was spotted raining down over the southwest Atlantic on Thursday evening.

SpaceX was in the initial stages of its eighth test flight of its prized Starship rocket from its South Texas launch facility when, less than 10 minutes into the mission, flight crews appeared to lose control of the rocket's engines.

Debris was spotted within minutes raining down from the Bahamas, Caribbean and Florida, which caused the FAA to issue an alert to pilots.

Dozens of flights appeared to have been diverted and airports from Orlando south through West Palm Beach and Miami reported flight delays associated with the event.

"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," read part of a statement released by the FAA Thursday night. 

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The FAA is now requiring SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation, which involves the company determining the cause of the explosion and corrective measures.

During the previous test flight in January, the upper stage of the more than 400-foot-tall rocket disintegrated over the southwest Atlantic, sending debris raining down over the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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"During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost," SpaceX said in a statement moments after the explosion. "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses. We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability."

The explosion occurred at a similar point in the mission as the January event.

Ironically, debris was spotted as far north as the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a potential future launch site for the mega rocket.

The Starship spacecraft is being developed with the long-term goal of carrying astronauts to the Moon and potentially Mars, though SpaceX has not publicly disclosed a timeline for when the rocket will be approved for human space travel.

Several previous test flights have encountered challenges, leading to uncertainty surrounding the objectives of NASA’s Artemis program.

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The Artemis program aims to return humans to the lunar surface by 2027, marking the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

The first Artemis mission was launched in November 2022 but involved a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft, not a rocket made by SpaceX.

The next mission, Artemis II, is expected to be a crewed flight but, again, will not involve SpaceX’s Starship.

The ninth test flight could take place as soon as April, but a potentially lengthy FAA investigation will likely derail any immediate launch attempt.