Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands — Residents of the Turks and Caicos were once again treated to a fireworks spectacular, courtesy of SpaceX. The Thursday evening flight of the eighth launch of Starship—the rocket the space exploration company hopes will one day send people to Mars—exploded around 6:42 PM, and the fiery trail of debris was visible from the Turks and Caicos. Initial reports suggest that the rocket lost altitude control.
No debris is expected to fall on land within the Turks and Caicos Islands, unlike the failed SpaceX launch in January, which rained debris across the archipelago. Residents report that they are still finding pieces of the January explosion's debris, much of which has been washing up on the country's beaches.
"We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests," said SpaceX in a tweet posted Thursday night.
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), along with the Turks and Caicos Government, are still investigating the January incident.
