Debris is scattered across Florida and the Bahamas when SpaceX’s starship explodes once more

For the second time this year, SpaceX’s Mars spaceship detonated in midair, scattering debris over Florida and the Bahamas.

Elon Musk’s Mars rocket program has failed twice in a row this year, with SpaceX’s enormous Starship spacecraft exploding in space on Thursday, minutes after taking off from Texas. Due to falling debris from the explosion, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily stopped aviation travel in several areas of Florida.

After Starship lost control and broke apart, videos that went viral on social media showed flaming wreckage hurtling across the skies close to South Florida and the Bahamas. Before communication was lost, the rocket was seen spinning erratically in SpaceX’s live video.

Just over a month has passed since the seventh test flight, which similarly ended in an explosion, was followed by the eighth. The consecutive failures happened early in the flight, something SpaceX has easily surmounted before. Musk’s plan to use Starship to transport people to Mars by the end of the decade is made more difficult by this setback.

Due to worries about space debris, the FAA temporarily halted operations at the airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando. Now that the agency has opened an inquiry, SpaceX must identify the reason behind the malfunction and secure regulatory clearance before Starship can take to the skies once more.

At 6:30 p.m. ET (00:30 WAT), the starship departed SpaceX’s site in Boca Chica, Texas. Shortly after entering orbit, the top stage lost control, but the Super Heavy booster made a successful return to Earth.

Later, SpaceX reported that Starship experienced a “energetic event” in its aft portion that led to the failure of several engines and the loss of attitude control. Nine minutes and thirty seconds after liftoff, the last communication was made with the rocket.

During the live webcast, SpaceX representative Dan Huot said, “We have some practice now because this happened last time too.”

According to SpaceX, Thursday’s debris included no harmful compounds, in contrast to the January test that left debris all over the Caribbean and destroyed a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In a simulated landing sequence, SpaceX had intended for Starship to make almost a full circle around the planet before reentering over the Indian Ocean. This would have been a significant turning point for the program’s subsequent stage, which would have involved carrying out controlled land-based landings.

Even though it was still looking into the failure in January, the FAA had given its approval for Thursday’s test flight. Before trying another launch, SpaceX must now investigate the reason behind the failure once more and obtain regulatory approval.