Space X Starship explodes minutes after launch from Texas forcing airlines to alter course
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A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up just minutes after launching in Texas, forcing flights over the Gulf of Mexico to change course to dodge falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program. SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship on Thursday, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites but no crew, eight minutes after liftoff from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5.38 pm EST (2238 GMT).
Video captured by Reuters showed orange balls of light streaking across the sky over the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving trails of smoke behind. SpaceX CEO Musk posted a video on X showing the debris field and said: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!".
"We did lose all communications with the ship - that is essentially telling us we had an anomaly with the upper stage," SpaceX Communications Manager Dan Huot said, confirming minutes later that the ship was lost. Dozens of commercial flights diverted to other airports or altered course to avoid potential debris, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
Departures from airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were also delayed by about 45 minutes, it added. The last time a Starship upper stage failed was in March last year, as it was reentering Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, but rarely has a SpaceX mishap caused widespread disruptions to air traffic.
