SpaceX Starship Explodes Over Bahamas After In-Flight Breakup : Checkout the Visuals
SpaceX's Starship exploded over the Caribbean Sea minutes after launch from Texas, causing debris to fall near Florida and the Bahamas. FAA launches an investigation. Read more.
kowshik Reddy
SpaceX's eighth Starship test flight ended in failure on Thursday evening, as the spacecraft exploded over 10 minutes after its launch from Boca Chica, Texas, flying overhead through the Caribbean Sea. Its debris scattered over regions, including parts of Florida and the Bahamas.
Launch Details:
The mission successfully commenced at some 6:30 PM as the Super Heavy first-stage booster hurled the Starship upper stage into space. The booster executed a return maneuver and was successfully caught by mechanical arms on the launch tower which counted as SpaceX's third such recovery.
Upper Stage Failure:
Approximately eight minutes into the flight after separation of stages, the upper stage of the Starship experienced multiple engine shutdowns, which resulted in a loss of altitude control and its ensuing uncontrollable spinning until communication was lost. The vehicle had then disintegrated, and occurrence of debris was reported over Florida and the Bahamas.
Yet another rapid unplanned disassembly of Starship.
This time over the Bahamas.
Perhaps Elon should spend more time trying to keep his cars and rockets from blowing up rather than trying to disassemble our government and crash the economy.pic.twitter.com/TOI7TigDlg — Art Candee ???????? (@ArtCandee) March 7, 2025
Safety Measures and Investigation:
Air Traffic Disruptions:
Airports in Florida-main including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando, had been informed by the FAA to stop flights temporarily as a precaution against debris. Limited airspace had been declared unsafe for flying.
FAA Investigation:
The FAA has directed SpaceX to conduct a formal investigation into the incident involving the mishap. All of this to be able to really trace the actual cause and put up remedial actions so that this casualty incident will never take place again. Findings of this inquiry will then be submitted to the FAA for approval before being released for more flights.
This event marks the second disaster in a row for the Starship program to fail in 2025, following an earlier explosion on a test flight in January. Both of these failures knocked SpaceX back in their lofty ambitions for the system to conduct missions to the Moon and Mars. The company is expected to dissect the data coming from these tests to increase reliability in future missions.
