Starship Explodes In Flight Test, Forcing Airlines To Divert

SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites but no crew, eight minutes after liftoff from its south Texas rocket facilities at 5.38pm 12.38am SAST.

Video showed orange balls of light streaking across the sky over the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving trails of smoke behind.

We did lose all communications with the ship that is essentially telling us we had an anomaly with the upper stage, SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said, confirming minutes later that the ship was lost.

The last time a Starship upper stage failed was in March last year, as it was re-entering Earths atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, but rarely has a SpaceX mishap caused widespread disruptions to air traffic.

Dozens of commercial flights diverted to other airports or altered course to avoid potential debris, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. Departures from airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale in Florida were also delayed by about 45 minutes, it added.