See video of SpaceX Starship exploding as seen from Viera, Florida.
The SpaceX Starship can be seen exploding in the sky above Viera, Florida on March 6, 2025 at 6:40 p.m.
Another SpaceX Starship rocket disintegrated in a fiery high-altitude spectacle Thursday evening, startling unsuspecting eyewitnesses across Central and South Florida — and briefly halting Sunshine State airport traffic because of space debris.
About 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Orlando International Airport officials announced they were under a Federal Aviation Administration “ground stop” because of space launch debris.
Normal operations at MCO resumed about 15 minutes later. But as late as 9:10 p.m., departures from Miami International Airport were still running behind an average of 30 minutes — and increasing — stemming from space launch debris delays, the FAA reported.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Palm Beach International Airport also experienced FAA air traffic delays after the Starship mishap. Melbourne Orlando International Airport flights were not impacted, airport spokesperson Melissa Naughton said.
What happened? SpaceX launched a Starship rocket on its eighth flight test at 6:30 p.m. EST from the company’s Starbase complex in Boca Chica, Texas. After stage separation, the Super Heavy booster returned to the launch site and was caught in mid-air by the company’s Mechazilla robotic arm-equipped tower.
But during Starship’s ascent burn, “the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost,” SpaceX officials said in a 7:16 p.m. tweet.
“Prior to the end of the ascent burn, an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines. This in turn led to a loss of attitude control and ultimately a loss of communications with Starship. Final contact with Starship came approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff,” the company reported later Thursday night.
In a post-explosion statement, the FAA said it will require SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation into the loss of the massive rocket.
“During the event, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location. Normal operations have resumed,” the statement said at 8:15 p.m. Thursday.
Photographer captures Starship explosion in Titusville
In Titusville, Merritt Island space photographer-science content creator Trevor Mahlmann was eating dinner with family at Playalinda Brewing Co. Brix Project when they walked outside to see if they could spot the passing Starship. He captured video of the swirling, expanding explosion using his iPhone.
“My dad was right next to me. We were watching like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ You could definitely tell it was not going to plan,” Mahlmann recalled.
“It was quite a sight to see it explode. And I know that a lot of the people at SpaceX I’ve been able to be friends with over the years are taking it in stride. I’ve had a couple people text me saying, ‘Hey, this one really hurts — but we’re going to get back to it,” he said.
The doomed Starship “flew within a designated launch corridor to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water, and in the air,” SpaceX reported on its website. The company said no toxic materials are present in the debris, and no significant impacts are expected to marine species or water quality.
SpaceX’s most recent Starship launch on Jan. 16 also “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” creating what resembled a colorful meteor shower over the Turks and Caicos islands north of the Dominican Republic.
SpaceX bringing Starship to Space Coast
SpaceX loses contact with Starship spacecraft during test flight
Minutes after lifting off from south Texas, SpaceX lost contact with its latest Starship vehicle during an unmanned test flight.
Thursday’s rocket explosion occurred just three days after SpaceX publicly confirmed plans to bring Starship launches and production facilities to Florida’s Space Coast — with intentions to launch the first Starship by year’s end from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX plans to build a 380-foot Gigabay processing facility at KSC by the end of 2026. The company also wants to launch Starships from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. These Florida Starship plans are pending completion of environmental reviews.
The project includes at least $1.8 billion of SpaceX capital investment and will bring an estimated 600 new full-time jobs in the Space Coast by 2030, Gov. Ron Desantis’ office said in a press release.
In December, Space Florida’s board of directors authorized up to $65 million in funding via the state’s Spaceport Improvement Program for the code-named $1.8 billion “Project Hinton” heavy-lift rocket infrastructure project. That unidentified company was projected to to create 600 jobs with average annual wages of $93,000.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1