On Thursday night, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily halted flights to several Florida airports following a SpaceX Starship testing failure. This marks the second mishap this year during a test flight of SpaceX’s Starship, which resulted in debris falling and disrupting commercial flights.
The affected airports included Miami International Airport, a major hub for American Airlines, as well as those serving Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, Florida. The FAA issued a statement requiring SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation into the loss of the Starship vehicle during its launch operations on March 6. To ensure safety, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and briefly slowed or stopped aircraft departing from areas where space vehicle debris was falling. However, normal operations resumed shortly after the incident.
SpaceX confirmed the event, explaining on X (formerly Twitter) that during Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” and communication was lost. The company stated that its team coordinated with safety officials to follow pre-planned contingency responses. SpaceX added that it would review the flight test data to determine the root cause of the mishap.
The test flight, which was Starship’s eighth attempt, launched from the company’s spaceport near Brownsville, Texas, at 6:30 p.m. ET. During the livestream of the test, several engines seemed to cut out as the upper-stage Starship was still climbing, leading to a loss of communication. However, the company successfully caught the Super Heavy Booster using the launch tower’s arms.
Earlier this year, on January 16, a similar incident occurred when SpaceX’s Starship broke apart, leading to dozens of flight diversions and a warning from the FAA about “space vehicle debris.” The FAA had previously warned of dangerous areas for falling debris, particularly in Florida’s congested airspace, where both commercial and private flights share space with the growing space industry.
While SpaceX was still conducting an investigation into the earlier mishap, the FAA allowed the eighth test flight to proceed. The Starship, standing 403 feet tall when stacked on its Super Heavy booster, is critical to SpaceX’s future space missions. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for further information.
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