SpaceX rocket debris threats forcing flight delays over Indian Ocean routes

Qantas Airlines has delayed multiple flights between Australia and South Africa in recent weeks – sometimes by up to six hours – due to warnings about potential falling debris from SpaceX launches, the company told multiple media outlets.

Ben Holland, Qantas Operations Center Manager, said The Guardian that his company had received warnings from US authorities that covered much of the Indian Ocean with little notice, forcing delays on flights between Sydney and Johannesburg. South African Airways flights have also been affected by warnings of incoming debris from SpaceX, according to The Guardian.

SpaceX has performed eight launches since the start of the year, including the Falcon 9 startup on Wednesday carrying two descent modules built by private space companiesFirefly and ispace heading to the moon. The company is also trying to launch the seventh test flight of its Starship megarocket, but time forced the mission to be rescheduled several times. It is currently scheduled to launch today (which you can watch live here). For these preliminary test flights, SpaceX aims for soft drops of the upper stage in the Indian Ocean, and the upcoming test is no different.

Neither SpaceX nor Qantas immediately responded to a request for comment.

As the frequency of commercial space launches increases, so does their potential impact on ground passenger travel. This effect is magnified by advances in rocket technology that allow companies like SpaceX to rebuild and reuse key components such as boosters. However, not all rocket parts were recovered; some, such as heat shields or upper-stage debris, are designed to either burn up during re-entry or fall in specific areas, adding to the complexity of managing and tracking what goes up — and what inevitably comes back down.

In November, the Federal Aviation Administration released a draft environmental impact statement evaluation evaluating SpaceX’s proposal to increase the number of Starship launches from its base in Boca Chica, Texas. The company’s plans include landing some of the missiles in the Indian Ocean, potentially affecting a huge swath of airspace between Australia and Africa, according to FAA charts.

“The FAA frequently provides data to launch operators to avoid operations on days with high volumes of air traffic and identifies times of minimal impact,” the agency wrote. “However, the FAA recognizes that while these operating windows would minimize disruption to the (National Airspace System), they would likely increase disruption to people traveling in the vicinity of the proposed launch or landing operations.”

Each of the 25 Starship launches for which SpaceX is seeking permission will include two landings— for the Starship vehicle itself and its first-stage superheavy rocket.

The Qantas delays aren’t the first time SpaceX has disrupted commercial airline schedules. In 2018 Elon Musk’s publicity stunt in which a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carried a Tesla Roadster into space caused 4,645 minutes of flight delays, according to Vox report. And in front of the FAA changed its procedures in 2023 a typical missile launch from Florida might require 36 flights to be diverted, resulting in 300 minutes of delays and 1,500 additional miles flown.