The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) suspended flights to multiple Florida airports on Thursday night after a testing failure involving SpaceX’s Starship rocket. This marks the second incident this year where debris from a Starship test disrupted commercial air travel. Affected airports included Miami International Airport, a major hub for American Airlines, as well as facilities serving Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, Florida.
In a statement on X, SpaceX confirmed that during the rocket’s ascent, the vehicle encountered an unexpected disassembly, leading to a loss of contact. The company stated it immediately coordinated with safety officials to implement contingency measures. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, emphasized its commitment to reviewing data from the test flight to determine the root cause of the issue. The test launch occurred at 6:30 p.m. ET from the company’s facility near Brownsville, Texas, marking the eighth such attempt.
This incident follows a similar event in January, where Starship’s breakup caused diversions of numerous flights, with the FAA citing concerns over falling debris. Reports from that event indicated property damage in the Turks and Caicos islands. Despite ongoing investigations into the earlier mishap, the FAA permitted SpaceX to proceed with another test flight. — news fromCNBC