SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Eric Gay | AP
The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights to several Florida airports on Thursday night after a SpaceX Starship testing failure.
The incident marks the second time this year that SpaceX experienced a mishap during a flight test of Starship resulting in debris raining down and commercial flights disrupted.
Affected airports included Miami International Airport, which is an American Airlines hub, and airports serving Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, Florida.
SpaceX said, in a post on X on Thursday night: “During Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.”
The Elon Musk-led aersopace and defense contractor also said it plans to “review the data from today’s flight test to better understand” the root cause of the mishap.
Starship took off from the company’s spaceport near Brownsville, Texas, at 6:30 p.m. ET for its eighth test flight.
In January, dozens of flights were diverted after SpaceX’s Starship rocket broke up, and the FAA warned of “space vehicle debris” falling. The regulator said that in the earlier incident, it received “reports of public property damage on Turks and Caicos” islands in the Caribbean.
SpaceX was working on a mishap investigation into what caused the earlier incident but was allowed by the FAA to proceed with another test flight before completing it.
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