Starship's fiery explosion creates a dazzling spectacle across the skies

Skies over the Caribbean lit up with colourful streaks of fireballs on Thursday after SpaceX's seventh Starship test ended in a failure, resulting in an explosion

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SpaceX’s seventh Starship test ended in fireworks as the gigantic craft was destroyed in a massive explosion following its separation from the booster. Debris from the spacecraft streaked through the sky, creating a visual spectacle that enthralled onlookers, many of whom captured the colorful display on their phones.

 

The visuals were captured by people visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands, as the wreckage left behind a trail of smoke over the Caribbean Sea.

 

The Starship ended in flames less than ten minutes after its launch from South Texas at 5.38 pm EST (2238 GMT), and lost contact with SpaceX mission control just eight minutes later.. 

 

The company was, however, successful in retrieving the first stage rocket that returned to the launch pad, resulting in the second successful catch of a Super Heavy booster. 

 

The Elon Musk-led SpaceX described the latest spacecraft's explosion 'a rapid unscheduled disassembly,' inviting rebuke from the social media users for the choice of words. 

 

Following the incident, the airlines flying over the Gulf of Mexico were forced to alter their routes to avoid hitting the debris. This is another hurdle for SpaceX’s flagship rocket program, which had been making significant progress in recent months.

 

According to the company, “The first Starship flight test of 2025 flew with ambitious goals: seeking to repeat our previous success of launching and catching the world’s most powerful launch vehicle while putting a redesigned and upgraded Starship through a rigorous set of flight demonstrations.”

 

“Following stage separation, the Starship upper stage successfully lit all six Raptor engines and performed its ascent burn to space. Prior to the burn’s completion, telemetry was lost with the vehicle after approximately eight and a half minutes of flight. Initial data indicates a fire developed in the aft section of the ship, leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” SpaceX said in a statement. 

Social media lit with burning Starship videos 

Soon after the gigantic 171-foot-tall (52 meters) upper stage disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean near the Turks and Caicos Islands about 8.5 minutes after launch, the videos and images of the falling debris went viral on social media. 

The people filming the spectacle described the resulting explosion as a fiery display of fireworks in the sky. The watchers couldn’t help catching the action on their phones. The social media sites, especially Elon Musk-owned X, were lit with videos of the flying debris.