Topline
The Federal Aviation Administration briefly ordered flights departing from airports in Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach to stay grounded Thursday evening after a SpaceX Starship broke up following a test launch, marking the second SpaceX test flight in a row to encounter a mission-ending issue.
SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, … [+]
Key Facts
The FAA ordered ground stops for flights scheduled to depart from Miami International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Palm Beach International Airport, issuing the stop until 8 p.m. before abruptly rescinding the order around 7:50 p.m. local time—shortly after lifting a ground stop for Orlando International Airport.
Despite the rescinded ground stop, the FAA reported departures from Miami and Fort Lauderdale are delayed an average of 45 minutes.
The flight test of the SpaceX Starship began with a successful liftoff and capture of the vehicle’s booster before the Elon Musk-owned company lost contact and it “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
Onboard cameras appeared to show the Starship spinning out before going offline, with SpaceX noting the ship lost attitude control, which controls its orientation.
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What We Don’t Know
It is unclear what caused the ship to lose control and disassemble. SpaceX said in a post after the test it “will review the data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause.”
Key Background
Thursday’s launch of the Starship was its eighth test flight and marked the third time its booster was caught after descending back down to Earth. The test flight, which was rescheduled from Monday to Thursday over an issue with the ship system’s core, is the second test flight in a row prematurely ended by a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” In January, a Starship broke apart during its ascent burn in space, with SpaceX later reporting the disassembly may have come as a result of a leak in the vehicle’s rear that likely increased pressure and triggered a fire.
Further Reading
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Test-Launch Of Starship Ends In ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ (Forbes)
