Government officials in Turks and Caicos said Friday that debris from a SpaceX rocket test that went awry fell over the Caribbean islands but that there have been no reported injuries so far and only minimal damages to property.
The government statement also said the Turks and Caicos Islands Airport Authority diverted flights in its airspace and grounded planes in the immediate aftermath of the accident.
SpaceX launched its huge Starship rocket and spacecraft on an uncrewed seventh test flight on Thursday. About nine minutes after liftoff, the company lost contact with Starship and the rocket’s upper stage broke apart over parts of the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean.
Videos emerged online shortly after the incident showing glowing debris streaking across the sky.
Government officials in Turks and Caicos said they are not aware of any specific risks at this time related to the Starship debris, but added that space debris “can sometimes contain hazardous materials which can cause serious harm to health.”
Officials said that anyone who encounters an object that may be space debris should not touch it, should record the time and location of its discovery, should snap a picture (if possible) without touching it and report the finding to [email protected] with the subject title “Space X Debris.”
The government statement said that space debris remains the property of the spacecraft owner — in this case, SpaceX.
Officials said they are working with partners in the United Kingdom and the UK Space Agency on how to handle the debris and maintain health and safety following this incident.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it has grounded the Starship rocket pending an investigation into the midflight accident.
The FAA said it is working with local authorities to confirm reports of public property damage in Turks and Caicos.
After the Starship vehicle broke apart, the FAA confirmed that it had activated a “Debris Response Area” and slowed or stopped aircraft near the area where debris was falling.
“Several aircraft requested to divert due to low fuel levels while holding outside impacted areas,” the agency said in a statement Friday.
Rey Garcia, a tennis instructor at the Turks & Caicos Islands Tennis Academy, said he saw bits of debris, likely from Starship, fall on a tennis court where he works.
“I was actually very scared,” Garcia said. “I was thinking it was a meteorite.”
He said he saw smoke and heard explosions as pieces rained down over the tennis court and golf course.
“It kept exploding and exploding and exploding,” Garcia said. “It was strong. You could feel the explosion. It felt so close.”
The test flight launched from SpaceX’s “Starbase” launch site near Brownsville, Texas. The planned trajectory would have taken Starship over the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, then east near Cuba and across the Atlantic Ocean. Had the flight gone as planned, Starship would have ultimately splashed down in the Indian Ocean.
Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed, measuring 400 feet tall. The rocket has two parts: a first-stage booster known as Super Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft.
The system is expected to play a crucial part in NASA’s efforts to return to the moon. The agency selected SpaceX to carry astronauts to the lunar surface during NASA’s planned Artemis III mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2027. Musk has also said Starship could be used for future missions to Mars.
