The explosion of the SpaceX Starship rocket over the Caribbean Islands forced flight delays and diversions and may have caused property damage below.

The company says that “Starship flew within its designated launch corridor” and “any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area.” The falling debris put on a show in the evening sky over the Caribbean and was captured by several tourists who seemed both amazed and slightly anxious about what they were witnessing.

The FAA grounded SpaceX's Starship pending an investigation into the failure that caused the rocket to break apart midflight. The regulator noted in a statement that it has received "reports of public property damage on Turks and Caicos" islands in the Caribbean.

The United States on Friday grounded SpaceX's Starship and ordered Elon Musk's company to investigate why the spaceship spectacularly disintegrated in a fiery cascade over the Caribbean during its latest test mission.

SpaceX's Starship broke apart during liftoff, potentially due to a fire from leaking fuel. The spacecraft's debris fell near the Caribbean, prompting a comprehensive investigation. The incident underscores the challenges of spaceflight,

Debris from the Starship spacecraft that blew up in midair on Thursday prompted flight diversions in the area.

SpaceX successfully guided Starship’s booster back to a landing site in Texas but lost the main spacecraft around 10 minutes into the flight. The test flight was the seventh attempt from Boca Chica, Texas.

While Elon Musk’s spaceflight company repeated a spectacular catch of its powerful booster stage, the upper stage experienced a catastrophic malfunction.

SpaceX suspects a fire may have caused its Starship to break apart during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean. SpaceX's Elon Musk said preliminary indications are that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall. The resulting fire would have doomed the spacecraft.

Recent science news covers SpaceX's Starship explosion, a new scent for sniffer dogs aiding cold cases, a Pompeii excavation, and US FAA's investigation into rocket debris in Turks and Caicos. Highlights include a test payload mishap,