SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight last week ended with another disaster. This time, wreckage from the explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour. The latest failure comes after the Federal Aviation Administration gave SpaceX approval to launch despite an ongoing investigation into a previous explosion.
The FAA said it would require SpaceX to investigate the accident.
Flights were briefly grounded at Orlando International Airport “due to space launch debris in the area,” the airport posted on X. More than 200 flights were disrupted and the FAA said the explosion and falling debris over a wide area caused 28 flights already in the air to be diverted. Another 40 were held up and unable to land for some time. More than 170 departures were delayed.
The FAA issued a ground stop at four Florida airports — Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Palm Beach International.
Earlier this year a previous Space X explosion showered debris on the Turks and Caicos.
The company described the incident as a ‘minor setback.’