Aerostar Airport Holdingsthe private operator of the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airporthe indicated that Air traffic on the island was restored on Thursday night after another Starship ship of the company Spacex It exploded during a test flight.
It was the second time, in almost two months, that the aircraft created by the company founded by Elon Musk exploded and caused delays and/or cancellations of flights to the possibility of rubble, including in several airports of the state of Florida, according to The New York Times.
In that first incident, which occurred on January 16, the outbreak of the space vehicle, one of the largest in existence, caused the fall of rubble on the Turkish and Caicos Islands. The situation caused the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued notices and restrict airspace over the state of Florida, Puerto Rico and other areas of the Caribbean.
On this occasion, the 403 -feet rocket took off from Texas shortly before sunset, and although the first stage of the rocket was recovered, the aircraft engines at the top began to go out while heading east, in what it was supposed to be a controlled entrance to the Indian Ocean. The company indicated that it lost contact with the spacecraft while turning out of control.
“There were flights that had to land in alternate airports, or return to their points of origin. The flights that did not take off were maintained on the ground, delayed. (Normal) operations have already resumed”He emphasized aerostar in the statements.
The flight, which had to last an hour, could not release the simulated satellites in space as planned. The spacecraft reached almost 90 miles altitude before the problems appeared. At the moment it is unknown where the ship fell.
“Unfortunately, this also happened last time, so now we have some practice,” he said They give huotSpacex flight commentator, from the place of launch.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has reserved Starship to take its astronauts to the moon at the end of this decade. Musk aims to get to Mars with Starship, the world’s largest rocket.
Like the last time, Starship had four simulated satellites to release once the ship reached the space in what was its eighth test flight for future missions. They were similar to the SpaceX Starlink Internet satellites, thousands of which the Earth is currently orbit.
Starship’s fins, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: take to the spacecraft back to the launch platform.
During the last demonstration, Spacex captured the rocket on the launch platform, but the spacecraft exploded several minutes later on the Atlantic. No significant injuries or damage were reported.
According to an investigation that is still ongoing, a fuel leak caused a series of fires that turned off the engines of the spaceship. The on -board self -destruction system was activated as planned.
Spacex said he made several improvements in the spacecraft after the accident, and the Federal United States Aviation Administration (FAA for its initials in English) recently authorized a new Starship launch.
These rockets are launched from the end more south of Texas, near the border with Mexico. Spacex currently builds another Starship complex in Cabo Cañaveral, Florida, home of the smallest Falcon rockets of the company that transport astronauts and satellites to the orbit.