Several commercial flights were delayed or diverted on Thursday following the breakup of SpaceX’s Starship rocket during its seventh flight test. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a warning to pilots about falling debris from the rocket, which caused a disruption in air traffic.
According to flight-tracking service Flightradar24, dozens of flights were impacted. The FAA temporarily slowed and diverted aircraft in the area where the space vehicle debris was falling after the rocket, launched from SpaceX’s Brownsville, Texas, facility, disintegrated shortly after liftoff.
The rocket was headed east from Texas when it broke apart. SpaceX stated on X (formerly Twitter) that it would continue analyzing data from the flight test to determine the root cause of the incident.
While the FAA has not received any reports of injuries or property damage, the debris led to significant flight disruptions. A JetBlue Airways flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, was forced to return to Fort Lauderdale nearly two hours into its journey, according to FlightAware. Other flights, including a FedEx cargo jet near Turks and Caicos, and a Spirit Airlines flight, were also redirected.
American Airlines reported fewer than 10 diversions due to the incident, while airlines and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FAA’s actions highlight the congestion in the airspace, particularly in regions like Florida, where both commercial and private flights are competing for routes.
