‘A Crazy Experience’ SpaceX starship explosion leaves netizens in awe

In a shocking turn of events, the SpaceX Starship rocket exploded in the skies shortly after it was launched on 16th January 2025. However, netizens on social media claim that the uninvited event led to a beautiful display of colors in the skies which they will remember throughout their life.  

The starship rocket was the seventh rocket launched from company’s Boca Chica facility in Texas and has been aimed to deploy 10 dummy satellites over the Gulf of Mexico. The flight exploded just 8.5 minutes after its launch and all the debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean.  

While the explosion acted as a setback for the company, it has provided residents with a unique display of colors in the sky, which they claim was a crazy experience.  

A user on Facebook named Katie Alkinburgh wrote, “OMG that's insane. It's a story that when people ask what is one of the craziest things you have experienced, this will be at the top of your list.”  

Another user stated, “Elon Musk, Space X Starship, made the skies over Turks and Caicos quite spectacular as it exploded.”  

Diane Pott shared her experience of watching the explosion as she wrote, “I was outside reading when I first heard the “booms”, too early for fireworks and as I looked up, I was (not sure of the word to use here) startled, puzzled or amazed. It was loud and spectacular. Personally, yes exploring space is for understanding about all that surrounds us, but at what risk. Yes, I am sure that most pieces disintegrated in the explosion, but what was put into the atmosphere that affects us all is not right.”  

Flights disrupted due to SpaceX explosion  

Notably, the aircraft exploded above the islands of Turks and Caicos. While damage from the incident has not been reported yet, the explosion led to several flights getting diverted to other airports in Caribbean or opted for an altered route to avoid the damage from potential debris.  

According to the data shared by Flightradar24 on X, several flights have been disrupted due to the space debris, as it created havoc among pilots. This led to several flights being put on hold or getting diverted to avoid any collision or accident.  

Several airlines including JetBlue, Delta, United, Spirit Airlines, Frontier, American Airlines stopped their operation toward or via the Caribbean islands.  

Elon Musk’s reaction on SpaceX explosion 

“Despite the spacecraft’s failure, today’s booster recovery marks a significant milestone in our pursuit of fully reusable rockets. We’ll analyze the data from this flight to make the necessary adjustments for our next launch,” wrote Elon Musk on X.  

He made this statement while noting the significant achievement made by the company. Notably, the super heavy booster, in the rocket’s first stage helped in a controlled descent back to the launch tower and was caught by mechanical arms. This achievement is important as SpaceX has only made it possible once before.