SpaceX starship explosion: Second failure sparks FAA action
During Thursday's flight, SpaceX's Starship exploded, marking the second consecutive major failure in attempts to reach orbit by Elon Musk's rocket. The internet is awash with eyewitness recordings of this event.
The eighth test flight of the Starship culminated in a failure, ending with an explosion. The American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) swiftly responded by briefly halting flights to major airports in Florida and redirecting others due to falling debris from space.
Additionally, the agency informed TechCrunch that it requires SpaceX to conduct an investigation into this failure.
Starship rocket explosion
SpaceX launched the Starship with the aid of the Super Heavy booster, and everything proceeded smoothly for the first eight minutes of the flight. The ship successfully separated and ascended into space, while the booster returned to the launch pad in Texas, where it was caught by the tower for the third time.
However, about eight minutes after launch, SpaceX's broadcast revealed the loss of several Raptor engines on the ship. Onboard footage captured the machine beginning to spin over the ocean.
The internet is flooded with recordings
“We just saw some engines go out. It looks like we are losing altitude control of the ship,” said Dan Huot, SpaceX's communications manager, during the broadcast. “At this point, we have lost contact with the ship,” he added.
Recordings on social media indicate that the ship disintegrated over the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic a few minutes later. The company announced on platform X that it "immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses." The dramatic moment of the explosion can be viewed in the material below.
There are numerous additional recordings, showing how the remnants of the Starship illuminated the sky.
SpaceX had planned to deploy four test Starlink satellites during this flight, marking a significant step towards using Starship for commercial missions. The company is expanding its space network by conducting tests promptly and learning from both its successes and setbacks.
This failure occurred just weeks after the seventh test flight, during which the Starship broke up over the Turks and Caicos Islands, prompting the FAA to reroute flights in that area. SpaceX conducted an investigation that determined a fuel leak inside the ship caused fires, resulting in a loss of communication before the rocket self-destructed.
