BAHAMAS:
SpaceX’s colossal Starship spacecraft experienced a dramatic explosion in space on Thursday, just minutes after launching from Texas. This marks the second consecutive failure this year for Elon Musk’s ambitious Mars rocket program. The incident led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily halt air traffic in parts of Florida as a precaution.
Social media was flooded with videos capturing fiery debris streaking across the evening skies near southern Florida and the Bahamas. The debris resulted from Starship’s breakup in space, which occurred shortly after the spacecraft began spinning uncontrollably with its engines shut down, as shown in SpaceX’s live stream of the mission.
This latest failure represents the eighth unsuccessful test of the Starship program, following another explosive outcome just over a month ago. Both mishaps occurred during early mission phases, which SpaceX had previously navigated successfully. The setbacks are particularly disappointing for Musk, who had aimed to accelerate the program’s progress this year.
Standing at 403 feet (123 meters), the Starship rocket system is a cornerstone of Musk’s vision to send humans to Mars by the early 2030s. Despite the explosion, Musk downplayed the incident, calling it “a minor setback” in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. He added, “Progress is measured by time. The next ship will be ready in 4 to 6 weeks.”
The FAA responded to the incident by briefly issuing ground stops at several Florida airports, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando, citing concerns over “space launch debris.” The agency also announced it had opened an investigation into the mishap.
The launch took place around 6:30 PM ET (23:30 GMT) from SpaceX’s expansive Boca Chica facility in Texas. While the Super Heavy first-stage booster successfully returned to Earth as planned and was caught midair by a SpaceX crane, the Starship’s failure highlights the challenges of developing such advanced spaceflight technology.
The incident underscores the high stakes and risks involved in Musk’s quest to revolutionize space travel and achieve his goal of interplanetary colonization.
