A SpaceX Starship prototype failed in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk’s flagship rocket program.

SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites, eight minutes after liftoff from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5:38 p.m. EST (2238 GMT).

Video shot by Reuters 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 reentering Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, but rarely has a SpaceX mishap caused widespread disruptions to air traffic.

At Miami International Airport, some flights were grounded, according to a Reuters witness. At least 20 commercial flights diverted to other airports or altered course to avoid potential debris, based on flight records from tracking website FlightRadar24. The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates private launch activities, said it was assessing the situation.

SpaceX CEO Musk posted a video on X showing the debris field and said: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”

The Starship upper stage, 2 meters (6.56 feet) taller than previous versions, was a “new generation ship with significant upgrades,” SpaceX said in a mission description prior to the test. It was due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after its launch from Texas.

Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/aq91TloYzY

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2025

The mission was SpaceX’s seventh Starship test since 2023 in Musk’s multibillion-dollar effort to build a rocket capable of ferrying humans and cargo to Mars, as well as deploying large batches of satellites into Earth’s orbit.

SpaceX’s test-to-failure development approach has in the past included spectacular failures as the company pushes Starship prototypes to their engineering limits. Thursday’s test failure, though, occurred in a mission phase that SpaceX has flown through previously.

The towering Super Heavy booster, meanwhile, returned to its launchpad roughly seven minutes after liftoff, as planned, slowing its descent from space by reigniting its Raptor engines as it hooked itself on giant mechanical arms fixed to a launch tower.

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The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that a “deal to release the hostages” had been reached and that he had ordered the political-security cabinet to convene later in the day.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal to release the hostages,” his office said in a statement.

His office had accused Hamas on Thursday of reneging on key parts of the agreement to extort last-minute concessions — an allegation Hamas denied. 

“The Prime Minister ordered the political-security cabinet to convene tomorrow (Friday). The government will then convene to approve the deal,” Netanyahu’s office said.

It added that the families of the hostages had been informed and that preparations were being made to receive them upon their return.  

If approved by Israel’s cabinet, the truce agreement would begin on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalised.

It was announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday. 

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Benjamin Netanyahu had delayed a vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal, blaming Hamas. 

​Benjamin Netanyahu had delayed a vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal, blaming Hamas.