Watch: Airline Passenger Captures Moment SpaceX’s Starship Breaks Up Over The Bahamas Leading to Dozens of Flights Being Diverted
- In a nutshell: The eighth launch of SpaceX's Starship ended in failure on Thursday when the rocket suffered an 'anomaly' during its final ascent and broke up over the Carribbean.
- The FAA activated a 'debris response area' resulting in dozens of flights being forced to divert or be grounded.
An airline passenger captured the moment that a SpaceX Starship broke up over the Bahamas less than 10 minutes after takeoff from Starbase in Texas, spreading debris over a wide area and forcing dozens of flights to divert or be grounded.
The incredible footage shows the brightly lit debris flying through the air and past the wing of the commercial passenger jet before it eventually rained down in a pre-planned ‘Debris Response Area.’
SpaceX described the failed rocket launch as a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ and reassured the public that there were no toxic materials in the Spaceship debris that landed back on Earth.
The incident occurred during Spaceship’s eighth test flight when an “energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines” during the end of the ascent burn.
Communications were lost with the unmanned Spaceship nine minutes and 30 seconds after launch.
SpaceX says it immediately started to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and air traffic control to activate a pre-planned ‘debris response area’ in order to divert aircraft away from the area that debris was expected to fall.
Dozens of flights across the Caribbean were forced to take evasive action to avoid the falling debris, and flights were grounded at a number of airports, including Miami.
The FAA has already ordered SpaceX to start a mishap investigation into the loss of the Starship vehicle. In a statement, the agency explained: “A mishap investigation is designed to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again.”
The statement continued: “The FAA will be involved in every step of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions. A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety.”
The incident comes just months after Starship’s seventh launch also ended in failure in January when the rocket broke up during its final ascent, raining debris down across the Caribbean and resulting in a number of emergency aircraft diversions.
Later the same month, SpaceX was forced to scrub the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with just 11 seconds to go after a Delta Air Lines airplane reportedly flew into an area of restricted airspace close to the launch site.
