Yet again, one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets exploded on Thursday night, grounding flights across Florida as fiery debris fell from the sky. In its eighth test flight, the 400-foot rocket launched from Brownsville,

It’s the second time this year that SpaceX experienced a mishap during a flight test of Starship resulting in debris raining down.

W hen Musk and his allies turned their attention to the FAA last month, they identified a problem: The communications infrastructure used by the agency to manage air-traffic control and aviation safety dates to 2002. It still relies on copper-based wiring and traditional radio. It’s showing its age.

SpaceX's latest Starship to attempt to reach space exploded nine minutes after its launch this week, leaving a trail of debris in its wake. Airports in Florida were forced to halt flights as the threat from impacts extended south to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued temporary flight restrictions for both airports after SpaceX confirmed that its Starship vehicle suffered a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

Orlando and Miami International Airports, among others, were experiencing ground stoppages Thursday due to a failed test flight of SpaceX's Starship.

Orlando International Airport officials announced they were briefly under a Federal Aviation Administration "ground stop" because of space launch debris.

Thursday's incident marks the second time a SpaceX rocket exploded this year. The first was on Jan. 16, after which the FAA ordered SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation.