A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program. SpaceX lost contact with the rocket, carrying a test payload of mock satellites, eight minutes after liftoff. Debris was seen falling over the Gulf of Mexico, leading to disruptions at Miami International Airport and dozens of diverted flights.
SpaceX's Starship rocket is pictured after launching as seen from South Padre Island near Brownsville, Texas, US on Jan 16, 2025.WASHINGTON — 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.
"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. The Federal Aviation Administration, 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 failure came a day after Blue Origin, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company, successfully launched its giant New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.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. It was due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after its launch from Texas.
Spacex Starship Rocket Launch Failure Debris Air Traffic Disruption
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