PASSENGER jets were forced to swerve the red-hot and glowing remains of the exploded SpaceX rocket that rained across the sky on Thursday.
Dozens of commercial flights had to divert to other airports or stray course to avoid the deadly path of debris, with one video capturing the spectacle from the cockpit of a plane.
Tesla tycoon Elon Musk's Starship rocket exploded just minutes into its seventh test flight in a dramatic mid-air failure - resulting in glowing debris to fly through the sky above confused citizens.
Unbelievable footage shows the glittery remains raining down after the 400ft behemoth launched from Boca Chica, southern Texas, on Thursday.
Airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico were desperately made to alter course to avoid the deadly wrath of the falling wreckage.
And several planes over the Atlantic, near the ultra-luxurious Turks and Caicos Islands, were also forced to halt or divert after the megarocket exploded into the atmosphere.
One flight radar data images during the debris chaos shows jets circling in the sky before having to change their routes and destinations.
Along with commercial flights having to dodge and divert the debris, departures from airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were also delayed, according to FlightRadar24.
One shocking video captured in the cockpit of a commercial aircraft shows the red-hot metal flying dangerously across the airspace - in the path where planes could have been flying.
The debris light up the sky, glittering orange, white and blue colours as the pilot films the unbelievable spectacle, presumably in fear and confusion.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates civil aircraft flying, said it had briefly slowed and diverted planes around the area where space debris was falling.
Normal operations had since resumed.
The FAA regularly closes airspace for space launches but it can create a "debris response area" to prevent aircraft from entering if the space vehicle experiences an anomaly outside the originally closed zone.
Putting a positive spin on the rocket failure, Musk shared a video of the sky spectacle on his social media X with the upbeat caption: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"
SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them.
It was the first flight with this new and upgraded spacecraft.
But while the rocket's booster performed flawlessly - making a successful return and being caught between two giant mechanical arms at the launchpad - the rocket itself vanished.
The thrill of the catch quickly turned into disappointment for not only the company, but the crowds gathered along the southern tip of Texas.
Crews lost contact with the Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world.
The company's livestream host confirmed the worst: “At this point in time, we can confirm we did lose the ship.
"It looks like we lost contact a little under eight and a half minutes into the flight.”
Confirming the explosion, SpaceX wrote on X: "Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn.
"Teams will continue to review data from today's flight test to better understand root cause."
As the rocket disintegrated in the sky, glowing debris rained down, forcing nearby air traffic to reroute.
Aircraft were diverting away from the area where the debris soared through the atmosphere.
The last data received from Starship indicated the rocket had reached an altitude of 90 miles, with a velocity of 13,245 mph, before contact was lost.
SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said: "It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship."
He added that it would take time to analyze the data and determine what went wrong.
Elon Musk’s space company had hoped this test flight would mark a step forward in its goal to build a fully reusable spacecraft capable of carrying humans to Mars.
He plans to launch actual Starlinks on Starships before moving on to other satellites and, eventually, crews.
The tech boss himself tweeted ahead of liftoff: "Every Starship launch is one more step closer towards Mars."
The Starship prototype had been heavily modified since its last test flight in November 2023.
SpaceX had also made upgrades to the booster "catch" tower, which had been damaged during the previous test.
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