SpaceX loses Starship rocket minutes after liftoff from Texas launchpad
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has ordered SpaceX to investigate what went wrong
A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program.
According to Musk, a fire is believed to be the cause of the rocket breaking apart.
Preliminary indications are that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall, causing a fire that doomed the spacecraft.
SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites but no crew, eight minutes after liftoff from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5:38 p.m. ET.
Video shot by Reuters showed orange balls of light streaking across the sky over the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving trails of smoke behind.
"We did lose all communications with the ship — that is essentially telling us we had an anomaly with the upper stage," SpaceX Communications Manager Dan Huot said, confirming minutes later that the ship was lost.
On Friday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered SpaceX to investigate what went wrong. The FAA said there were no reports of injuries from Starship debris.
The last time a Starship upper stage failed was in March of last year, as it was re-entering Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, but rarely has a SpaceX mishap caused widespread disruptions to air traffic.
Flights forced to divert
Dozens of commercial flights diverted to other airports or altered course to avoid potential debris, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. Departures from airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., were also delayed by about 45 minutes, it added.
The FAA, which regulates private launch activities, said it had briefly slowed and diverted planes around the area where space debris was falling, but normal operations had since resumed.
The FAA regularly closes airspace for space launches and re-entries, but it can create a "debris response area" to prevent aircraft from entering if the space vehicle experiences an anomaly outside the originally closed zone.
The 400-foot Starship — the world's biggest and most powerful rocket — launched from the southern tip of Texas on a test flight early Thursday evening. The booster made it back to the pad for a catch by giant mechanical arms, only the second time in Starship history. But the engines on the still ascending spacecraft shut down one by one until the rocket was seen breaking apart, sending debris streaking across the sky.
Starship had been shooting for a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after its launch.
SpaceX CEO Musk posted a video on X showing the debris field and said: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"
Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! ✨ <br> <a href="https://t.co/nn3PiP8XwG">pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG</a>
—@elonmuskThe failure came a day after Blue Origin, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company, successfully launched its giant New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.
Taller version of predecessor
The Starship upper stage, two metres taller than previous versions, was a "new generation ship with significant upgrades," SpaceX said in a mission description prior to the test.
The FAA said it must approve SpaceX's accident findings and any corrective actions.
The mishap threatens to derail Musk's goal to launch at least 12 Starship tests this year, depending on how quickly SpaceX can implement fixes.
NASA already has booked two Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade under its Artemis program, the successor to Apollo.
"Spaceflight is not easy. It's anything but routine," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson posted on X after the accident. "That's why these tests are so important."
Musk critical of FAA
"Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month," Musk said.
The billionaire, who was appointed to a new government cost-cutting role by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, has repeatedly criticized the FAA for overreaching and making politically-motivated decisions.
With files from The Associated Press