On March 6, dozens of videos of the fiery skies over Marathon spread like wildfire on social media when a test flight of SpaceX’s uncrewed Starship rocket ended in flames off the coast of Florida.
But that was no asteroid creating ‘Armageddon’-like red streaks in the sky. In what the company called a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ – the tongue-in-cheek term it first used when a previous test flight in January ended in a similar ball of fire – SpaceX’s 403-foot rocket lost engines before losing control minutes after its 6:30 p.m. launch.
After taking flight from Boca Chica, Texas, the rocket successfully separated from its Super Heavy Booster, which returned to Texas for a successful “catch” at one of SpaceX’s launch towers. But in what the company later called an “energetic event” near the bottom of the spacecraft, it ultimately lost thrusters and tumbled out of control after reaching nearly 90 miles in altitude.
SpaceX reportedly lost contact with the craft nine minutes and 30 seconds after launch. It’s roughly the same time frame in which the company lost January’s ship, which rained debris over the Turks and Caicos islands – some of it landing on residents’ cars.
The March 6 explosion over the Bahamas was visible across south Florida, prompting the FAA to ground flights at local airports for roughly an hour and a half.
In a statement on the most recent explosion, SpaceX said the debris contained “no toxic materials … and no significant impacts are expected to occur to marine species or water quality.” At press time, though the explosion was visible from several countries, there did not appear to be any reported debris impacts on land.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees rocket launches, will require a mishap investigation into the rocket loss.
“The FAA will be involved in every step of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions,” the agency said in a statement. “A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety.”
The Starship module is advertised by SpaceX as a “fully-reusable transportation system” to carry passengers and cargo to Earth’s orbit, “the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
“As the most powerful launch system ever developed, Starship will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights,” the company’s website states.
Three days before the launch, SpaceX had announced its plans to complete a new launch pad and launch Starship from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center before the end of 2025.
