FAA issues ground stops at major Florida airports after SpaceX Starship breaks apart over Caribbean

Flights at several Florida airports were grounded on Thursday evening after SpaceX conducted the eighth test flight of Starship, which resulted in the Starship experiencing a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" over the Caribbean.

The company said in a statement, "During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses."

"We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand root cause," SpaceX continued. "As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability."

According to Fox 35, ground stops were issued by the Federal Aviation Administration for Orlando International Airport, Miami International Airport, Palm Beach International Airport, and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Planes already in the air in the area were diverted.

Liftoff occurred at around 6:30 pm, with the booster disconnecting around two minutes and 45 seconds into the flight, which was successfully captured back on land around seven minutes into the flight.

Just after eight minutes into the flight, the ship lost attitude control and contact was lost with SpaceX engineers shortly after. Video taken aboard the spacecraft shortly before the feed was lost showed the ship tumbling through space.