“We have lost all contact”: SpaceX rocket explodes in mid-flight minutes after takeoff

Des dizaines de vols commerciaux ont été déroutés afin d'éviter d'entrer en collision avec d'éventuels débris. CAPTURE ECRAN X

Une fusée Starship de SpaceX a explosé lors d'un vol d'essai ce jeudi 16 janvier 2025.

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A SpaceX Starship rocket broke apart in space minutes after liftoff Thursday, forcing planes flying over the Gulf of Mexico to change their routes to avoid being hit by debris.

“Anomaly with the upper module”

SpaceX said it lost control of the Starship eight minutes after the rocket lifted off from its launch pad in Texas.

Video captured by Reuters showed balls of orange light descending into the sky above the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, plumes of smoke in their wake.

“We have lost all contact with the rocket, which indicates to us that there is an anomaly with the upper module,” SpaceX communications chief Dan Huot said, before confirming minutes later that the spacecraft was lost.

A Starship spacecraft disintegrated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere in March.

“Success is uncertain, but the spectacle is guaranteed !”

Dozens of commercial flights were diverted to avoid colliding with possible debris, according to the website FlightRadar24.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had slowed air traffic and diverted planes in the area for a while, but that everything was now back to normal.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted a video of debris on the social network X, writing: “Success is uncertain, but the spectacle is guaranteed!”

The failure comes as the New York rocket Glenn of Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space company that aims to compete with SpaceX, blasted off from Florida early Thursday morning on his first mission to space.