Elon's SpaceX Failed Starship Rocket Launch Lights Up Miami Sky

People throughout South Florida documented the flaming debris streaking through the sky.

March 7, 2025

Yeehaw! People throughout South Florida documented the flaming debris streaking through the sky after a Starship rocket exploded during a test flight. New Times artist conception/Photos by Brandon Bell via Getty Images (SpaceX Starship) and Gage Skidmore via Flickr (Elon Musk)

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On Thursday night, SpaceX's massive Starship rocket exploded during a test flight in Texas, raining debris over the Atlantic Ocean and causing delays at Florida airports.

At 6:30 p.m. EST, less than ten minutes after the 403-foot rocket launched from SpaceX's Starbase site near Brownsville, Texas, several engines appeared to cut off and the aircraft tumbled and broke apart. Falling debris from the failed launch prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt flights in and out of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando airports until 8 p.m.

"During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly, and contact was lost," SpaceX posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, as news spread about the failed launch. "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses."

Following the explosion, people throughout Florida, including Miami, spotted flaming debris in the sky. They took to social media to ask what they were witnessing. They soon learned it wasn't a bird, a plane, or a meteor.

#Starship over Miami @SpaceX pic.twitter.com/nBOEZEX0n0
— Niky (@itsnikyq) March 6, 2025

This was filmed in Miami Gardens this evening. SpaceX debris falling in South Florida.
Elon has our tax dollars going down in flames. 🔥 Talk about waste... pic.twitter.com/OGYUvXze1o
— G-Ma Cathy (@ZetaDove1972) March 7, 2025

Anyone else saw this today? Who's abuelita is gonna clean up whatever fell from space?
byu/Sad_Information_1053 inMiami

Witness the space x debris all the way in Fort Lauderdale pic.twitter.com/cJjZKCySui
— 🇺🇸Shannanaginz🇺🇸🙏🏼🐸🐢 (@Shanna_Turtles) March 7, 2025

Could this be @SpaceX failed launch debris? This was the sight above Mallory Square in Key West Thursday evening. FAA issued ground stops at several South Florida airports due to “space launch debris,” @CNN reported. pic.twitter.com/jB1dWzEyw5
— Gwen Filosa (@GwenFilosaMedia) March 7, 2025

RIP Starship Flight 8, just caught it exploding after a few engines cut off and it losing attitude control, viewed from Titusville, FL🚀 pic.twitter.com/VBBtApjsd7
— 📸Trevor Mahlmann🚀 (@TrevorMahlmann) March 6, 2025

guys what the f is this???
byu/borzoisnoot inMiami

This was the second consecutive failed launch of the Starship from Elon Musk's rocket program. In January, a similar explosion littered parts of Turks and Caicos with debris. Local authorities said there was no extensive property damage or injuries.

SpaceX said it would take corrective action to improve its Starship flight tests and conduct an investigation into the failed launch with the FAA.

"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability," Musk's company wrote on X.

At this time, it remains unclear where the falling debris landed. There have not been any reports of the debris falling on land.

Naomi Feinstein is a staff writer of Miami New Times where she primarily focuses on news. Naomi started her career with New Times as a summer intern in 2019, then returned as a fellow in August 2022 before joining the staff full-time in February 2023. She graduated from University of Miami where she contributed to the student-run newspaper, the Miami Hurricane. She holds a master’s degree and graduated with honors from the Columbia School of Journalism. In 2021, Naomi was recognized as the College Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists of Florida, and she placed second for Best General News Story in the 2021 Pinnacle Awards.

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