SpaceX's Starship breaks up mid-flight, forcing planes to avoid debris | Space News

Elon Musk acknowledges the failure of the mission, posting on X that 'success is not certain, but fun is guaranteed'.

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft disintegrated mid-flight, forcing airlines to divert flights to avoid falling debris.

While Elon Musk's company succeeded in resuming its previous mission of holding the first stage booster as it returned to Earth on Thursday, the next-generation spacecraft that didn't work was lost.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded and diverted planes from the area where the space vehicle debris fell, the aviation regulator said.

“Normal operations have resumed,” the spokesman said.

At least 20 planes changed their routes to avoid potential debris, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, as videos from social media showed parts of the craft re-entering space over the Caribbean.

Musk said the separation of the spacecraft appears to have been caused by a leak of oxygen or fuel from the surface of the spacecraft's engine wall.

“Besides obviously checking for leaks twice, we will add fire suppression to that volume and maybe increase the exhaust area,” Musk said in his social media post X. “There is nothing so far to suggest the next launch next month.”

Musk previously acknowledged the equipment failure, posting photos of falling debris.

“Success is not guaranteed, but fun is guaranteed!” he said.

SpaceX controllers lost contact with the prototype vehicle about eight and a half minutes from its launch site near Brownsville, Texas, United States.

The vehicle, which was on its first flight, was carrying 10 satellites and was supposed to cover half of the planet.

“The Starship experienced an unplanned random disintegration during its burn,” the company said in a post to X.

“Teams will continue to review data from today's flight test to better understand the cause. With tests like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will help us improve Starship reliability.”

The mission was the seventh test flight of SpaceX's Starship, which Musk envisions will one day carry people and cargo to Mars.

Earlier on Thursday, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time, marking a milestone in the race for commercial space travel.

In a series of X posts after the Blue Origin launch, Musk compared his relationship with his space industry rival to the dynamic between Will Ferrell and John C Reilly's characters in the 2008 comedy, Step Brothers.