VIDEO: Starship rocket disintegration filmed from a plane

Passengers on Delta Flight DL 1984 on January 16 must have couldn't believe their eyes when they looked to port as they flew over the Caribbean. Indeed, as dusk settled in the region, large numbers of light trails could be visible in the sky. As if it were a shower of shooting stars.

Except that it was in no way the atmospheric re-entry of a swarm of meteors, like the Perseids, the Draconids or the Orionids. These incandescent features, which seem to scratch the celestial vault, are the result of the disintegration of the Starship in the atmosphere. And the scene may have been filmed by one of the passengers on the flight.

The Starship, reduced to burning debris

This passenger, Bob Beresh, uploaded his video to YouTube, which has already been viewed more than 500,000 times. It offers a unique angle on the loss of the Starship, shortly after the separation of the two stages. If the first returned safely, successfully completing its famous maneuver to “fall” into the arms of the launch tower, the second disintegrated in mid-flight.

Bob Beresh was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. His flight, which departed from Grantley-Adams International Airport (Barbados), was headed to Atlanta (United States). The trajectory of the plane therefore led it to “cross” the takeoff of the Starship, which had finally been planned for January 16, after a few postponements.

For this shot, the Starship had to leave the SpaceX test base, in the very south of Texas, then release the first stage over the Gulf of Mexico. It was during the second part that the upper floor failed. It should have flown over Mexico, the Caribbean, the Atlantic, Africa and ended its course in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Australia.

Besides, the person concerned knew what he was preparing for. “ Knowing that the Starship launch was planned, I looked to the west, hoping to see a plume in the atmosphere “, he said. This smoke is often visible over great distances: it has even been seen from the International Space Station. The videographer specifies that the scene was captured at 5:49 p.m. (local time).

In the end, it was not a plume to which he was entitled, but the final moments of the Starship burning up in the atmosphere. There could hardly be a more spectacular scene to hope for. Above all, a normal Starship flight would probably have gone unnoticed by the plane's passengers, due to the darkness and the distance.

A danger zone for civil aviation

But behind the poetry of the sequence, the destruction of the Starship hampered local air traffic, causing delays and forcing civilian aircraft in the area to take distancing measures. A press release from the FAA, the Civil Aviation Administration in the United States, which also supervises SpaceX's activities, confirmed this on January 17.

« During the event, the FAA activated a debris response zone and briefly slowed aircraft outside the falling spacecraft debris zone or stopped aircraft at their starting point. Several planes requested to divert due to low fuel while outside the affected areas. »

It is unknown at this stage how long the Starship will have to remain on the ground following this incident, the most spectacular to date in the launcher's history. An investigation is underway and SpaceX will have to make adjustments – it could be a leak not far from the Starship engine. The return flight may take time.