The Starship spacecraft, developed by SpaceX, exploded in space just minutes after launching from Texas, prompting the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to halt air traffic in parts of Florida, Reuters reported today.
The explosion of Starship, which occurred last night local time, marks the second consecutive failure this year for billionaire Elon Musk’s Mars landing program.
Several videos circulating on social media, taken from SpaceX’s live broadcast, show burning rocket debris falling near South Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke apart in space, shortly after it began spinning uncontrollably with its engines shut down.
RIP Starship Flight 8, just caught it exploding after a few engines cut off and it losing attitude control, viewed from Titusville, FL🚀 pic.twitter.com/VBBtApjsd7
— 📸Trevor Mahlmann🚀 (@TrevorMahlmann) March 6, 2025
The failure of Starship’s eighth launch comes just over a month after its seventh attempt, which also ended in an explosion.
The Federal Aviation Administration briefly issued a notice grounding air traffic at airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando due to “debris from a space launch.”
Another stunning view of Starship debris over Turks & Caicos
— Mirthful Moments (@moment_mirthful) March 7, 2025
SpaceX confirms ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent’ pic.twitter.com/MPofEvSB6u
The Starship rocket lifted off at 6:30 PM local time from SpaceX’s large rocket facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
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Source: Tanjug; Foto: Printscreen X