SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas – The SpaceX launch on the southern tip of Texas last week caused large concrete chunks and stainless steel sheets to shoot thousands of feet away and started a fire in the Boca Chica State Park, according to a federal agency investigating the test flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded SpaceX’s Starship — the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built — after it exploded minutes after takeoff. See the launch in the video player above.
Elon Musk’s company sent the Starship soaring from the Boca Chica Beach launch site on April 20. It was supposed to take a trip around the world within an hour and a half and fall somewhere in the Pacific near Hawaii, but the trip only lasted four minutes.
SpaceX said multiple engines on the 33-engine booster were not firing as the rocket ascended, causing it to lose altitude. As it started to fall, the rocket intentionally self-destructed mid-air and plummeted into the Gulf of Mexico.
Back on dry land, the damage was evident, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In a statement, the service said that the launch hurled numerous large concrete chunks, stainless steel sheets, metal and other objects thousands of feet away.
Its “plume cloud of pulverized concrete” sent material about 6.5 miles northwest of the pad site and started a 3.5-acre fire in Boca Chica State Park.
USFWS staff started to access the land and impacts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, two days after the launch. “Launch pad safety concerns” made the area off-limits for 48 hours, the statement adds.
Staff later found that 385 acres on and around the SpaceX facility and Boca Chica State Park had debris on them. The park is leased by USFWS and managed as a component of the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge.
The launch site was off-limits to spectators and was located adjacent to Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
Spectators watched from South Padre Island and Port Isabel, a city about 10 miles away that also received particles. John Sandoval, assistant to the city manager told the AP, that the particles shattered the window at a local business.
No dead birds or wildlife have been found on refuge-owned or managed lands.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in communication with SpaceX and other partner agencies and organizations to provide on-the-ground guidance to minimize further impacts and reduce long-term damages to natural resources,” the statement reads. “We are also coordinating with the FAA on their site assessment, post-launch event recommendations, and Endangered Species Act compliance.”
The FAA said it is overseeing the mishap investigation and has grounded the Starship.
A return to flight will be based “on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety,” a statement from FAA reads.
SpaceX intends to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, eventually, Mars. NASA has reserved a Starship for its next moonwalking team, and rich tourists are already booking lunar flybys.
Despite the abbreviated flight, congratulations poured in from NASA chief Bill Nelson and others in the space industry. Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted, “Huge accomplishment, huge lessons, onwards to the next attempt.”
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