SpaceX's Starship blows up in space near Bahamas, debris disrupts Florida airports

SpaceX lost contact with its powerful Starship rocket over the Gulf of Mexico after its launch on Thursday.

“We lost contact with the ship, just like last time,” said SpaceX official Dan Huot, referring to a January launch in which the rocket’s upper stage exploded over the Caribbean, scattering debris

Despite losing contact with the upper stage, SpaceX managed to return the huge booster stage to the launch tower – catching it with arms called “chopsticks.” It was the third time SpaceX completed the tricky engineering feat.

Shortly after liftoff and booster separation, live video showed the upper stage was tumbling out of control before the signal was lost.

SpaceX turned off its livestream about about 40 minutes after the launch

Setback for Musk, who is in Washington to lead Doge

The setback may raise questions about billionaire Elon Musk and his SpaceX programme, as he spends most of his time in Washington working on President Donald Trump’s government reforms by leading the Department of government efficiency (Doge).

Starship successfully blasted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas shortly after 5:30 pm (2330 GMT). It is world’s biggest and most powerful launch vehicle

Florida airports shut ops

Air traffic across Florida was disrupted by the explosion with prompting major airports to shut operations for a while.

Flights departing from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Miami International Airports were delayed by up to 45 minutes due to “space launch debris,” the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Starship’s uncrewed mission

This was Starship’s eighth orbital mission—all uncrewed so far—and the first since its last test ended in a mid-air explosion over the Caribbean.

Starship is 403 feet (123 meters) tall—about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. It is designed to be fully reusable and holds a key role in Elon Musk’s plan to colonize Mars.

NASA is also waiting for a modified Starship to serve as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.

After the January 16 flight ended with the upper stage breaking apart over the Turks and Caicos Islands, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded Starship and launched a cleanup effort for fallen debris

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