SpaceX halted the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday with 11 seconds to spare after a plane allegedly flew into restricted airspace near the launchpad.
A fire in the aft section of SpaceX's Starship trigged the apparent explosion that destroyed the spacecraft, the company says.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told TechCrunch it had to "briefly" slow and divert a number of aircraft in the airspace near Puerto Rico, where
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The rocket company’s effort to demonstrate payload deployment, land its upper stage and potentially achieve spaceship-to-spaceship fuel transfer this year had an inauspicious start when the Starship system suffered a setback during the Jan. 16 flight. Minutes after launch, the Block 2 upper stage broke up when a fire developed in the aft section.
After exploding, the craft sent blazing debris across the sky and forced multiple aircraft flying over and near the Caribbean to divert.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made light of Starship's fiery end. "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!" he said on X.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it will oversee an investigation by Elon Musk's SpaceX into an explosive Starship test flight the previous day that forced airlines to divert dozens of flights to avoid debris.
The Federal Aviation Administration has paused SpaceX's the launch of its Starship rocket as the U.S. agency oversees an investigation by the private company of the breakup after a test launch Thursday.
No injuries have been reported from falling debris after SpaceX's Starship exploded in the sky over the Bahamas. However, the FAA has halted further test flights while it investigates.
The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation into what caused the company's Starship rocket to explode mid-flight on January 16. Until the FAA approves SpaceX's investigation reported,