Debris from SpaceX Starship 8 Explosion Streaks Across Bahamas Night Sky – YouTube
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SpaceX's Starship exploded in midair, leaving a trail of debris like confetti as parts of it fell to Earth. The fireball caused disruptions and delays to air traffic in Florida and the Caribbean amid warnings of falling parts.
The unmanned rocket, the largest ever built, lifted off from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas, facility at 6:30 p.m. ET on March 6.
However, about nine minutes after liftoff, the vehicle went out of control, resulting in a “rapid unplanned destruction,” SpaceX officials said in a post on X.
Fighting a spaceship
It was the eighth Starship launch since April 2023 and the second consecutive failure for SpaceX’s rocket this year. Less than two months ago, Starship’s seventh flight ended in an explosion that sent fiery debris into the skies over the Turks and Caicos Islands.
As with the previous launch failure, the US Federal Aviation Administration has suspended further rocket flights pending SpaceX's investigation into the incident.
“We will analyze the data from today’s flight test to better understand the root cause,” the company wrote on X. “As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will provide additional lessons to improve Starship’s reliability.”
Starship stands 403 feet (123 meters) tall and produces a record 16.5 million pounds (7.5 million kilograms) of thrust from its 33-engine Super Heavy Launch Vehicle. Starship can carry 10 times more payload than SpaceX's current Falcon 9 rockets.
The giant rocket is a key element of SpaceX majority shareholder Elon Musk's ambitious plans to deliver crews, spacecraft, satellites and cargo to Earth orbit, as well as to the Moon and Mars.
Starship was designed with an emphasis on cheap and efficient manufacturing: it uses inexpensive stainless steel for its construction and is fueled by methane, which SpaceX says can be mined on Mars.
The mission was a test flight designed to test the rocket's capabilities by deploying four simulated Starlink satellites and restarting its engines in space before crashing into the Indian Ocean. The exact cause of the explosion is currently unknown, though SpaceX officials have pointed to an “energy event in the aft section of Starship” that resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines.
The blast caused delays of 30 to 45 minutes on average at airports in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Philadelphia, according to Flightradar24, and planes flying over the Caribbean Sea were rerouted to avoid the debris.
Rocket debris from a previous failed launch, still being recovered, reportedly caused minor damage to a vehicle in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
SpaceX noted at the time that there were no toxic materials among the debris, although anyone who finds debris is advised not to touch it directly and instead contact local authorities or the SpaceX debris hotline.
Following the previous explosion, SpaceX announced upgrades to the Starship spacecraft that flew yesterday, including additional vents and a nitrogen purge system to seal fuel leaks and make the aft safer. That obviously didn't solve the problem, but company officials remain optimistic they can identify and fix the issues.
“Unfortunately, the same thing happened last time, so now we have some experience,” Dan Huot, SpaceX communications manager, said during the launch livestream.
TOPICS spacex Elon Musk starlink
Ben TurnerNavigate Social LinksSenior Staff Writer
Ben Turner is a staff writer for Live Science based in the UK. He covers physics and astronomy, as well as other topics such as technology and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before becoming a journalist. When he’s not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing guitar, and embarrassing himself at chess.
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