SpaceX’s massive Starship spacecraft exploded in space on Thursday just minutes after launching from Texas, marking the second consecutive failure this year for Elon Musk’s Mars rocket program. The explosion prompted the FAA to briefly halt air traffic in parts of Florida.
Videos on social media captured fiery debris streaking across the evening sky near South Florida and the Bahamas after Starship lost control and broke apart. SpaceX’s live stream showed the spacecraft spinning uncontrollably with multiple engines shutting down before communication was lost. This latest failure comes just over a month after a similar mishap during the seventh test flight, a setback for Musk’s push to accelerate the program.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket is key to Musk’s vision of sending humans to Mars by the early 2030s.
Despite the failure, Musk downplayed the incident, calling it a “minor setback” and stating on social media that the next Starship would be ready in four to six weeks.
The FAA briefly grounded flights at major Florida airports, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando, due to concerns over space debris. The agency has since launched an investigation into the incident. Starship lifted off around 6:30 p.m. ET (2330 GMT) from SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility. While the Super Heavy booster successfully returned to Earth as planned, the upper stage lost stability in space, leading to its destruction.
