US backs SpaceX’s Starship after test flight explodes

The US has grounded SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket while an investigation is carried out into why it exploded during its latest test flight.

A rocket’s upper stage disintegrated over the Caribbean after it was launched from Texas on Thursday, forcing airliners to divert to avoid falling debris.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is working with SpaceX and other authorities to verify reports of damage to public property in the Turks and Caicos Islands. No injuries were reported.

Elon Musk’s company has been told it has conducted an “incorrect” investigation by the air traffic controller, who will review the findings before deciding whether Starship can return to flight.

The FAA has confirmed that it has activated a “trash response area” to slow down flights outside the area where debris was fallingor stop flights on their way out from their departure points.

It added that many flights requested diversions due to low fuel levels while being kept outside the affected area.

Starship is the largest, most powerful rocket ever built, and is key to Musk’s ambitions to colonize Mars.

Thursday’s unscheduled launch was Starship’s seventh test mission, and the first involving a longer, advanced version of the rocket.

The Starship’s upper stage, which is two meters (6.56 ft) longer than previous versions, was “a new generation ship with significant improvements”, SpaceX said before the test.

It was because it crashed into the Indian Ocean about an hour after it was launched in Boca Chica, Texas.

The Starship program took off at 17:38 EST (22:38 GMT) and the upper stage separated from its Super Heavy booster about four minutes into the flight as planned.

But SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot reported via live stream that mission teams had lost contact with the ship.

The Super Heavy booster was able to return to its launch site about seven minutes from takeoff as planned, prompting applause from the world’s governing bodies.

SpaceX later confirmed that the upper stage underwent “rapid disassembly”.

In his social media post X, Musk said “initial indications” are that the problem is linked to an “oxygen/fuel leak in the surface area of ​​the ship’s engine wall”.

The billionaire added that “there is nothing so far to suggest the next launch next month”.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket – collectively called Starship – are 123m (403ft) long and are intended to be fully reusable, the company said.

Nasa hopes to use a modified version of the rocket as a lunar lander to return to the Moon.

In the distant future, Musk wants a Starship to make a long trip to Mars and back — about a nine-month round trip.

The launch of the Starship test on Thursday came a few hours after the first flight of the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket system, supported by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

It was a huge step forward for Bezos and his company, which has spent years building to the point of sending a rocket into orbit.

Bezos and Musk both want to dominate the space vehicle market.