The Starship rocket from the company SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, had a new setback during its eighth flight test. After taking off at 6:30 PM local time from the base in Boca Chica, Texas, the craft lost contact and exploded minutes later, scattering debris over a wide area of southern Florida and the Bahamas. This incident forced the closure of four airports, including those in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
In the midst of the test, the first stage of the rocket, known as the Super Heavy booster, successfully returned to the Starbase base in Texas. However, the upper stage of the rocket lost communication and exploded similarly to a previous event in January that also resulted in an explosion.
According to several videos shared on social media, Musk's company described the incident as a "rapid and unexpected disassembly" after losing contact with the operations center in Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States had to restrict flights in Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach for about an hour due to the rain of debris caused by the explosion.
Residents of Tampa Bay in Madeira Beach and Tampa, on the west coast of Florida, witnessed the incident and reported seeing the explosion in the sky. Despite the temporary interruption at the airports, Tampa International Airport was not severely affected, although some flights were diverted from Miami International Airport.
The goal of SpaceX's Starship was to conduct long-duration suborbital flights, intending to land in the Indian Ocean at the end of the journey. Designed to carry crew and large satellites, the rocket was scheduled to deploy four simulated Starlink satellites in this latest test.
Despite recent setbacks, SpaceX is investigating the causes behind these failures and working to improve the Starship technology for future test flights and missions.
