Florida Flights Disrupted After Starship Explodes

SpaceX's Starship 8 test vehicle blew up over the Caribbean on Thursday, diverting flights into South Florida airports because of what the FAA termed "falling space debris." The explosion occurred about 20 seconds before the engines were due to shut down after what appeared to be a successful launch from SpaceX's south Texas launch facility. It happened in roughly the same area that Starship 7 was lost in mid-January. That failure resulted in widespread air traffic disruptions in the Caribbean.

“Prior to the end of the ascent burn, an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines,” according to a statement from SpaceX. “This in turn led to a loss of attitude control and ultimately a loss of communications with Starship. Final contact with Starship came approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff.”

“Any surviving debris would have fallen within the pre-planned Debris Response Area,” according to the statement. “There are no toxic materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality. If you believe you have identified a piece of debris, please contact your local authorities or the SpaceX Debris Hotline at 1-866-623-0234 or at recovery@spacex.com.”