by Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. regulators and government officials in Turks and Caicos are investigating reports of property damage in the island nation caused by falling debris after a SpaceX spacecraft exploded over the sea during a test mission on Thursday.
Flights of the spacecraft and rocket system are now suspended pending an investigation into the accident, the agency confirmed in a statement Friday. The FAA and Turks and Caicos officials both said Friday that there were no reported injuries.
When launches and flights don’t go according to plan, authorities routinely stop rocket flights to conduct a so-called “mishap investigation.”
SpaceX will lead the investigation, the company confirmed yesterday. The FAA will then issue a list of corrective actions the company must take to get Starship back on the launch pad for another test flight.
The SpaceX vehicle disintegrated during the rocket system’s seventh unmanned test flight – about 10 minutes into a mission that took off from South Texas.
A hail of debris prompted the FAA to briefly set up a “Debris Response Area,” forcing aircraft to divert, leading to a series of travel delays.
In a statement issued Friday, the Turks and Caicos Islands National Security Secretariat also said that the “Turks and Caicos Islands Airport Authority has diverted all flights in (Turks and Caicos Islands) airspace and suspended all flights until the all-clear is given.” “
According to the agency, the FAA only establishes a “Debris Response Area” when debris from a missile accident falls outside predefined danger areas that are closed to aircraft. However, SpaceX claimed in a statement on Thursday that “surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated danger area.” (Originally, the statement described debris falling “into the Atlantic Ocean” – but the wording was changed Friday afternoon to delete that phrase.)
When asked what a “danger area” was and which locations would be closed to air traffic during takeoff, the FAA said its “investigation is ongoing” and “the information is preliminary and subject to change.” The agency added that the size of airspace closed to rocket launches can vary from launch to launch, depending on a variety of factors, including the launch vehicle’s safety record.
After Starship exploded on Thursday, social media flooded with photos and videos showing debris glowing bright orange and white as it streaked across the sky. Much of the footage was shot from Turks and Caicos or cruise ships and other islands in the area.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told CNN his analysis of Starship’s trajectory showed the vehicle likely exploded “over the Bahamas,” with debris a few minutes later at about 75 miles (120 km). Turks and Caicos Islands moved altitude (~75 miles).”
The FAA said in its statement Friday that the agency is working with SpaceX and local authorities to investigate reports of debris in Turks and Caicos.
In its statement, the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands said it had convened a meeting of officials on Friday “with relevant partners in the United Kingdom, including the British Space Agency, who are supporting the post-incident response, including technical expertise on dealing with debris.” and on health.” and safety risks, protocols and procedures.” The government also confirmed the FAA’s “active investigation.”
SpaceX and Turks and Caicos Islands authorities are urging the public who may find a piece of debris not to touch the object but to contact local authorities or the company. The local government provided the following reporting email address: nationalsecurity@gov.tc.
Sonic booms and reported damage
Turks and Caicos Islands authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how many reports of damage had been received.
Some unconfirmed social media reports have shown physical debris on the island. But Dr. Benjamin Fernando, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University who studies seismology, told CNN that it is also possible that loud sonic booms produced by the falling pieces of spacecraft fragments could cause minor damage would have.
“This event took place over one of the most densely populated areas in the Caribbean and one of the largest things we have ever seen returned to the atmosphere,” Fernando said. “So if there is property damage from a sonic boom, it will be an event like this that causes it.”
Fernando said he analyzed data collected from existing seismic stations in the Turks and Caicos Islands – and found that the instruments recorded an event consistent with a sonic boom at the time of the spacecraft’s explosion.
The ground speed of the event was “approximately 10 micrometers per second” – equivalent to standing near a road and feeling a truck go by.
“They’re not huge,” Fernando said. “But you will still feel them and notice them. “So you don’t have to worry about your house collapsing – but it can cause damage to things like windows, roof tiles, etc.”
Pilots react to debris
Matt Morley, a 39-year-old charter pilot who works for Minnesota-based Club Jet, was flying a business jet from Chicago Midway International Airport to Turks and Caicos when he saw debris from the spacecraft falling into the sky.
Morley told CNN he initially thought it was a meteor shower, which he radioed to an air traffic controller. However, according to Morley, the air traffic controller clarified that it was a missile.
“Then my next thought was, ‘Oh man, I hope it wasn’t anyone,'” Morley said.
Morley said he had to divert his plane to Exuma International Airport in the Bahamas after the airspace was closed.
He added that the flight he was piloting took off 15 minutes late. “If our flight had left on time, the debris would have been much closer,” Morley said.
There were two commercial airliners ahead of Morley’s plane that had to report a fuel emergency and divert safely to Exuma International Airport, he added.
“I’m glad we brought extra fuel,” Morley said. “It gave us a lot of options and I had a really good deputy at my side who made it easier for me to calculate our fuel reserves and find a suitable alternative.”
Morley described this encounter as “not too stressful, just crazy to watch.”
Hear more from pilots captured on air traffic control audio here.
A fiery mishap
SpaceX has been aggressively conducting a test and development campaign since 2023 to finalize the design of its Starship launch system, which consists of two parts: the Super Heavy rocket booster that delivers the first burst of power at launch and the Starship spacecraft that rides on top of it.
SpaceX recovered the Super Heavy carrier after launch on Thursday and guided it to a precise landing back on the launch pad. After separating from Super Heavy after a few minutes of flight, the spaceship Starship starts its own engines and continues on its own journey – a journey it did not survive this time.
SpaceX has been known to suffer major mishaps during test flights as the company prefers launching relatively inexpensive prototypes to learn quickly rather than relying on extensive ground testing and simulations.
Ultimately, SpaceX wants to send the spacecraft into orbit to drop satellites or transport human convoys to the Moon or Mars. However, during Thursday’s test flight, the vehicle was expected to follow a suborbital trajectory and surface in the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch – following a similar path to recent demonstration missions.
SpaceX’s Starship megarocket will launch on a test flight from Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday. -Eric Gay/AP
Starship has attempted controlled landings in the Indian Ocean on recent flights. But on Thursday, SpaceX said it was testing significant “upgrades” to the vehicle, including larger fuel tanks that increased its size by 2 meters (6.6 feet), a new flight computer and changes to the vehicle’s avionics.
For the first few minutes, the mission appeared to be going smoothly as Starship started its six engines after separating from Super Heavy. However, about five minutes later, one of Starship’s engines quit.
At the 8 minute 30 second mark, five of the six engines were offline. SpaceX’s Dan Huot and Kate Tice, who hosted a webcast of the test flight, confirmed about 10 minutes later that the Starship spacecraft had been lost.
The future of the spaceship
It is not clear whether the investigation into the mishap will cause significant delays to Starship testing.
Explosion accidents have occurred during Starship test flights in the past, particularly early in the test campaign. But most of the “rapid unscheduled disassemblies” — as SpaceX calls the explosion accidents — occurred closer to launch or intended landing sites. These mishaps also led to investigations that resulted in Starship being grounded for weeks.
Notably, Thursday’s explosion occurred less than halfway through Starship’s flight path over an area dotted with populated islands.
FAA-related delays to Starship have frequently drawn the ire of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Musk seemed to signal Thursday that he doesn’t expect significant delays despite the Starship loss. In a social media post, he said that based on a “preliminary” review of the issue, “there is nothing to date to suggest postponing the next launch beyond next month.”
Initial analyzes “suggest that a fire developed in the rear of the ship, resulting in rapid, unscheduled dismantling,” SpaceX said in a statement.
It’s unclear how Musk’s role in the new presidential administration might affect oversight of SpaceX.
Musk was also tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to co-head a new “Department of Government Efficiency.” His stated goals are to shrink the federal budget and operations by cutting spending, scaling back regulations and reducing the workforce.
Trump’s inauguration takes place on Monday. Musk is expected to attend.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com
