Debris from an apparent explosion of the eighth SpaceX Starship test flight was seen lighting up the skies above the Bahamas Thursday night.
Video shows the remains of the 400-foot spacecraft from Elon Musk’s company, composed of both the Starship vehicle and Super Heavy rocket, hurtling across the evening sky.
SpaceX lost communication with Starship just over nine minutes after its 6:30 p.m. ET launch from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica near Brownsville, Texas and said that the rocket “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly” in a post on X.
Starship’s last flight test in January ended with the vehicle unexpectedly exploding in the sky. The company used the same language − “rapid unscheduled disassembly” − that it did Thursday to describe the January explosion.
Musk had not posted about the second Starship explosion in two months on his X account as of Thursday night.
Several videos of the debris appeared on social media Thursday night. In a video obtained by USA TODAY, a child is heard calling the scene “so cool.”
Starship test flight causes flight delays
SpaceX said in a post on X that it has implemented pre-planned contingency responses. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday that it activated a debris response area and is ordering a mishap investigation.
The FAA said that it, “briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location.”
The FAA said that normal operations resumed Thursday night.
As of 9:15 p.m. ET, the National Airspace System Status page lists a departure delay at Miami International Airport due to “space launch debris,” though the FAA said in a follow up email that the airspace is open. A spokesperson for the airport confirmed that “some flights” were delayed by the debris and said that, “flights are slowly returning to their normal schedules.”
A spokesperson for the Lynden Pindling International Airport in the Bahamas said in an email to USA TODAY the airport experienced “a brief closure of our airspace earlier this evening that caused the delay of two flights.” The airport is now fully operational.
Second Starship explosion since January
SpaceX was able to complete its third return and catch of the rocket booster at the launch pad during the launch, but it did not complete a Starlink payload deployment test. The Starship vehicle was intended to land in the Indian Ocean.
The launch was originally scheduled to take place Monday but was delayed twice.
Thursday’s launch echoed the previous Starship demonstration on Jan. 16 ended in a fiery explosion after the Starship vehicle was lost during its suborbital flight.
“Obviously a lot to go through, a lot to dig through, and we’re going to go right at it,” SpaceX’s Dan Huot said during the livestream of Thursday’s launch. “We have some more to learn about this vehicle.”
Contributing: Eric Lagatta
