FAA Grounds Air Traffic After SpaceX Explosion Off US Coast

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the halt of air traffic at four Florida airports on Thursday after a SpaceX rocket broke apart during a launch.

The agency halted flights into Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando as a precaution due to possible debris from the explosion, according to Politico.

The ground stops lasted for roughly 50 minutes, the outlet said.

Video of the explosion filmed by people in the Bahamas circulated on social media.

The video showed parts of the aircraft glowing and streaking across the night sky.

#Starship #Spacex #Explosion Incredible sight here in Bahamas. pic.twitter.com/8VdrEkTQ0d

— GeneDoctor (@GeneDoctorB) March 7, 2025

SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk, revealed that the eighth test of the Starship rocket, launched from Boca Chica, Texas, was disrupted during the ascent.

“The vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost,” SpaceX said.

“Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company added.

“We will review the data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship’s reliability.”

During Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.

We will review the data from today’s flight test to better…

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 7, 2025

The “rapid unscheduled disassembly” is the second such incident from a Starship, the massive rocket that SpaceX intends to use for lunar missions and trips to Mars.

The last Starship was lost on Jan. 16, prompting the FAA to ask the firm to conduct a mishap inquiry.

The FAA lifted a launch prohibition last week, allowing the company to conduct more tests while the investigation continues.

Another mishap report will be required of the Thursday launch.

“We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests,” SpaceX said in a statement, per NBC News.

Contact with Starship was lost just short of 10 minutes after liftoff.

Several engines appeared to fail around 8 minutes into the flight, the same time frame in which the previous crash started to occur.

Dan Huot, the communications manager for SpaceX, said during the webcast of the launch, “It’s pretty obvious we’re not going to continue the rest of the mission today.”

SpaceX revealed that debris from the destroyed ship would fall in a designated “Debris Response Area.”

The material from the rocket is not toxic, and no significant costs to marine life or water safety are expected.

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