Latest news with #FAA
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX rocket explodes during test
A SpaceX rocket exploded late Wednesday during a static fire test, which the company attributed to 'a major anomaly.' 'On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. CT, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase,' the aerospace company, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, wrote early Thursday on the social platform X. 'A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,' it added. Footage of the incident at the Texas facility obtained by The Wall Street Journal showed an expansive explosion and large flames, with debris falling from the sky. 'Just a scratch,' Musk posted to X — which he also owns — without directly acknowledging the incident. In May, another SpaceX Starship rocket spun out of control and broke up during a test flight. The Federal Aviation Administration later requested an investigation into the mishap. The company on Thursday said the latest explosion left no hazards for residents in the area. 'Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials,' SpaceX wrote online. 'There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue,' it added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- Science
- The Advertiser
SpaceX Starship explosion setback to Musk Mars mission
SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11pm local time on Wednesday while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk's social-media platform X. The company attributed it to a "major anomaly," and said all personnel were safe. "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure," Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122-metre tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Musk called that explosion "a minor setback." The FAA said earlier this month that it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands. SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11pm local time on Wednesday while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk's social-media platform X. The company attributed it to a "major anomaly," and said all personnel were safe. "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure," Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122-metre tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Musk called that explosion "a minor setback." The FAA said earlier this month that it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands. SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11pm local time on Wednesday while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk's social-media platform X. The company attributed it to a "major anomaly," and said all personnel were safe. "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure," Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122-metre tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Musk called that explosion "a minor setback." The FAA said earlier this month that it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands. SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11pm local time on Wednesday while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk's social-media platform X. The company attributed it to a "major anomaly," and said all personnel were safe. "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure," Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122-metre tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Musk called that explosion "a minor setback." The FAA said earlier this month that it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
West Australian
4 hours ago
- Science
- West Australian
SpaceX Starship explosion setback to Musk Mars mission
SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11pm local time on Wednesday while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk's social-media platform X. The company attributed it to a "major anomaly," and said all personnel were safe. "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure," Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122-metre tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Musk called that explosion "a minor setback." The FAA said earlier this month that it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Science
- Perth Now
SpaceX Starship explosion setback to Musk Mars mission
SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11pm local time on Wednesday while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk's social-media platform X. The company attributed it to a "major anomaly," and said all personnel were safe. "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure," Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122-metre tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Musk called that explosion "a minor setback." The FAA said earlier this month that it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Boeing whistleblower reveals theory behind Air India crash
When Air India flight 171 to London crashed and exploded into flames moments after take-off from the West Indian city of Ahmedabad, the world watched in horror. All but one of the 242 passengers on board died when the aircraft plummeted into a residential area Thursday June 12. At least eight people in the area where it came down were also killed. On Sunday, India's Office for Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a written statement, 'The AAIB (Air Accidents Investigation Branch) has launched a detailed investigation, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols since the aircraft is American made.' Both Boeing – which manufactures the 787 Dreamliner airplane which crashed – and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced they had teams standing by to support investigators. Meanwhile, Air India announced Wednesday that it would temporarily cut international flights on widebody aircraft by 15 percent. But while preliminary findings may be made public within the next few months, a full report into the tragedy isn't expected to be published for at least a year. And according to aerospace engineer and Boeing whistleblower, Joe Jacobsen, that delay is not only unnecessary, it could prove fatal. He knows because he's seen it all before. Jacobsen worked at both Boeing and the FAA for decades. He is the man who raised the alarm about issues at the aeronautic giant in the wake of two fatal crashes involving the 737 MAX aircraft and killing a total of 346 people across 2018 and 2019. Last year, he testified at a senate subcommittee hearing on the 737 aircraft and Boeing's safety culture. Now, he has spoken exclusively with the Daily Mail to blow the lid on the finger pointing and blame shifting that, he said, goes on between airlines and aircraft manufacturers and needlessly delays the conclusion of vital reports into what lies behind crashes such as the Air India tragedy. Jacobsen said, 'Investigators would be able to have a pretty good idea of what happened within a week, and I would think they definitely should have 95 percent of the information within a month.' Indeed, both of Flight 171's key information sources – the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder or black box – had been recovered by Sunday. He said, 'It only takes a couple of days to download and have a look at that.' But, Jacobsen said, despite these valuable sources, much of the actionable findings won't be released to the public or acted upon for months. Shockingly, he went onto allege that part of Boeing's motivation in stalling on the release of potentially damaging findings, is financial. He explained, 'A lot of people are invested in Boeing and so they try and delay this stuff so people forget about it, or at least they can make their changes before the bottom falls out.' Indeed, these accidents take a massive toll on company finances. Boeing Co's stock closed at $203.75 on June 12, down 4.8%, after plunging as much as 8% in pre-market trading. One week after the crash it had continued its downward trajectory, hovering around $198.35 on Wednesday. Certainly, analysts and investment firms have been quick to downplay the impact and immediacy of the Air India crash to their investors. RBC Capital Markets, the global investment banking and capital markets arm of the Royal Bank of Canada, issued an investors' note last week in which they cautioned against any rush sell-off on the back of the Air India crash. They stated, 'It can often take months to fully understand the causes of a crash, and the implications for Boeing and its suppliers.' But from his experience, Jacobsen said, 'They know 95 percent of what happened after a week - but then the next 11 months are used up by people trying to control the message, and point fingers at one another, who's responsible, who's not responsible.' Jacobsen's worry is that, if the cause for last week's crash is a systemic issue across the 787 Dreamliner fleet, another crash could happen before it has been publicly identified and addressed. Indeed, with over 1,100 Dreamliners still in operation there has already been another scare. On Monday, another Air India pilot turned his 787 Dreamliner around 30 minutes into the flight, citing a technical issue. The airline told Reuters that the decision to return had been made as a matter of 'abundant precaution' and the flight had landed safely - they did not disclose the nature of the technical issue. US officials have stated there is no immediate evidence to warrant grounding the rest of the aircraft worldwide. But in the absence of any findings, this approach troubles Jacobsen. He said, 'A lot of times when it shows up on one airplane, there's other airplanes that have the same or similar issue. 'We shouldn't be saying we're going to take our time and figure this out. No. We have to have urgency. There's another crash that could happen if we're not working as quickly as we can to get the information out as rapidly as possible.' This is not empty scaremongering. Jacobsen has seen it happen. He was working at the FAA when an Indonesian domestic flight, Lion Air Flight 610, plunged into the Java Sea 13 minutes after take-off on October 29, 2018. All 189 passengers on board the Boeing 737 MAX perished. Jacobsen recalled, 'I got the flight data recorder data a week after the crash, and it took five minutes to see what the problem was.' But a full report into the disaster wasn't released for a year. In the meantime, there was another fatal crash when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed six minutes after take-off in March 2019. In that instance all 149 passengers and 8 crew members were killed. Both incidents involved the Boeing 737 MAX and both were found to be caused by the same flawed flight control system. Boeing recently reached a $1.1 billion deal with the US Justice Department over the two crashes. Jacobsen isn't the only one frustrated by the slow drip feeding of information. Lawyers for another Boeing whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, put out a statement on Friday, criticizing the FAA for sitting on a report about safety issues with the Boeing 787 - the same model as the Air India crash - and 878 for months. Salehpour went public with his concerns last year, stating that Boeing was using 'shortcuts' in the making of the 787 Dreamliner fuselage and sparking a federal investigation into the company. But on Friday his lawyer Debra Katz expressed frustration at its slow progress. She said, 'The FAA previously represented to us that they had completed an investigation, suggested that it had meaningful and significant findings that supported Mr Salehpour's allegations, and it was going to release them imminently. 'That was months ago. We urge the agency to disclose the results of its investigation.' For Jacobsen the solution is clear. Issue findings promptly, allowing problems to be addressed and giving families the answers they need, or ground affected aircraft until the cause of these devastating crashes has been made public. Because as things stand, he fears, more people could die while investigators and Boeing drag their feet and families wait. Boeing did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg issued a statement following the crash which included the assurance, 'I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.'
