240 Flights Disrupted After Explosion of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship

Photo: AFP

On Thursday, a SpaceX Starship spacecraft exploded in the air, causing major disruptions to air travel in the U.S. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed on Friday that the incident affected around 240 flights. Some planes had to change their routes due to concerns about falling debris.

This was the second failed test launch of Starship in a row.

Flights Delayed and Diverted

Right after the explosion, the FAA issued temporary ground stops at four major airports in Florida—Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Palm Beach. This meant that flights could not take off for over an hour. In total, 171 flights were delayed, 28 flights had to take a different route, and 40 airborne planes were held back for an average of 22 minutes while the FAA monitored for debris. The average delay for affected flights was about 28 minutes.

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FAA Orders SpaceX to Investigate

Following the explosion, the FAA announced that SpaceX must investigate to find out what went wrong with the Starship vehicle. Interestingly, last month, the FAA had already approved a launch license for this test flight, even though an investigation into a previous Starship failure was still ongoing. Before approval, the FAA reviewed SpaceX’s application and some initial details of its previous mishap report before deciding that the test flight could continue.

Debris Seen Over Florida and the Bahamas

After the explosion, videos shared on social media showed pieces of burning debris falling from the sky near South Florida and the Bahamas. A live stream by SpaceX showed that the Starship vehicle lost control, started spinning, and broke apart after its engines shut down.

Second Consecutive Failure for Starship

This latest explosion is the eighth failed test flight for Starship. It comes just over a month after another Starship test also ended in failure. The back-to-back explosions are a setback for SpaceX, as the company had previously managed to pass these early mission stages without problems. Elon Musk had hoped to speed up the Starship program this year, but these failures may slow down progress.

Musk Calls It ‘A Minor Setback’

Despite the failure, Elon Musk remained optimistic. On Friday, he called the explosion "a minor setback." Responding to a post on his social media platform X, Musk wrote: “Progress is measured by time. The next ship will be ready in 4 to 6 weeks.”

Starship’s Importance for Mars Mission

The Starship system, which stands 403 feet (123 meters) tall, is a key part of Musk’s plan to send humans to Mars. He hopes to achieve this goal as early as the next decade. However, with repeated test failures, SpaceX now faces challenges in meeting that ambitious timeline.