SpaceX’s ambitious Starship spacecraft suffered another setback on Thursday as it exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, marking the second consecutive failure this year in Elon Musk’s Mars rocket programme.

The mishap prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to briefly halt air traffic in parts of Florida, including major airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando, due to concerns over falling space debris.

Videos circulating on social media captured fiery fragments streaking across the skies near southern Florida and the Bahamas after Starship lost control and broke apart in space.

A live broadcast by SpaceX showed the spacecraft spinning uncontrollably, with several of its engines shut down before the company lost communication with it.

The failure occurred during the early phases of the mission—an area SpaceX had previously navigated with relative ease. The incident raises fresh concerns over the 403-foot (123-meter) rocket system, which is pivotal to Musk’s vision of sending humans to Mars within the next decade.

Back-to-back failures

This latest setback comes barely a month after Starship’s seventh test flight also ended in an explosive failure, adding to concerns over the spacecraft’s reliability.

During Thursday’s test, the rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch site in Texas at around 6:30pm ET (2330 GMT). The Super Heavy first-stage booster, which provides the initial thrust, successfully detached and returned to Earth as planned, where it was caught midair by a SpaceX crane.

However, moments later, the Starship upper stage began tumbling in space, triggering a series of failures. SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft suffered an “energetic event” in its aft section, leading to multiple engine shutdowns and ultimately a loss of control and communication.

The company’s spokesperson, Dan Huot, remarked on the live stream, “Unfortunately, this happened last time too, so we’ve got some practice now.”

FAA launches investigation

Following the explosion, the FAA announced a formal investigation, stating that SpaceX would need to determine the cause of the failure and obtain regulatory approval before attempting another test flight.

In January, Starship’s previous failure led to debris falling over Caribbean islands, causing minor damage to a vehicle in the Turks and Caicos Islands. However, SpaceX has assured that the latest debris does not contain toxic materials.

Despite ongoing setbacks, Musk’s space venture remains focused on making Starship a fully reusable rocket system capable of interplanetary travel. Thursday’s test was designed to simulate an orbital flight and re-entry over the Indian Ocean, a crucial step before future land-based landings.