The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded SpaceX’s Starship rocket following the explosion of its upper stage during a test flight on Thursday. The incident occurred after the rocket was launched from Boca Chica, Texas, and the upper stage broke apart over the Caribbean. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, though the FAA is investigating the possibility of property damage on the Turks and Caicos Islands due to falling debris. The FAA activated a “debris response area” to ensure the safety of aircraft, diverting some flights temporarily.
This mission was Starship’s seventh test flight and featured an upgraded upper stage that was taller by 2 meters than previous versions. Despite the planned separation of the upper stage from the Super Heavy booster, SpaceX lost contact with the ship shortly after the separation. While the booster successfully returned to its launchpad, the upper stage suffered what SpaceX called “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” Elon Musk speculated that the cause might have been an oxygen/fuel leak.
Starship, which is designed to be fully reusable, is a critical part of Musk’s vision for long-haul space travel, including missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA also hopes to use a modified version of Starship for its Artemis lunar mission. Musk has stated that preliminary reports suggest the next Starship launch could occur as soon as next month.
