The Federal Aviation Administration is temporarily halting future Starship launches by SpaceX after the latest test flight caused rain to fall over the Atlantic Ocean.
Although the test flight took off successfully on Thursday and led to the return of the booster rocket to Earth, the Starship vehicle itself exploded as it attempted to reach orbit. The result caused a pile of debris to burn through the atmosphere, which some netizens caught on video.
The incident prompted the FAA to activate emergency measures and warn surrounding aircraft of the danger of space debris falling over the Bahamas.
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“During the event, the FAA activated a debris response area and briefly slowed the aircraft out of the area where the spacecraft debris was falling or stopped the aircraft at their launch location,” the FAA said Friday. “Several aircraft requested to divert due to low fuel levels while maintaining outbound areas.”
On Thursday, Flightrader24, a website that tracks flight delays, also reported commercial planes in the area “being held up or diverted.” So far, the FAA has received no reports of injuries from debris. But footage has circulated online, showing that some of the Starship debris may have fallen on the Turks and Caicos Islands and even damaged a car.
“The FAA is working with SpaceX and the appropriate authorities to confirm reports of damage to public property in Turks and Caicos,” the agency said in a statement Friday.
In addition, the FAA is requiring SpaceX to conduct a “disaster investigation,” which will delay further test flights until the agency determines the vehicle is safe to fly again.
Thursday’s test flight was supposed to advance SpaceX’s progress on both Starship and the company’s next-generation Starlink satellites, which promise to deliver gigabit speeds. Earlier this month, SpaceX revealed that Starship would carry and attempt to deploy 10 mock Starlink satellites with the goal of deploying real V3 Starlink satellites on future flights.
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But during Thursday’s test, SpaceX said it lost communication with the Starship vehicle after it successfully separated from the booster rocket. The vehicle then disintegrated during its ascent burn, the company said.
“Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the spacecraft’s engine firewall that was large enough to pressurize the vent capacity,” CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet.
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But despite the malfunction, Musk is optimistic that SpaceX will be able to conduct another test flight of Starship in the coming weeks, pending clearance from the FAA to investigate the accident. “In addition to double-checking for leakage, we will add fire suppression to that volume and possibly increase the ventilation area. Nothing so far suggests delaying the next launch next month,” he said.
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About Michael Kahn
Senior reporter
