The midair explosion of the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy launch resulted in debris spread over an area more than twice as big as Disneyland, some 385 acres, and may have been responsible for a fire that spanned 3.5 acres, according to a study from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
The launchpad for the rocket was almost completely obliterated, which resulted in “numerous large concrete chunks, stainless steel sheets, metal, and other objects hurled thousands of feet away,” the agency said. Additionally, “a plume cloud of pulverized concrete” deposited materials up to 6.5 miles from the pad’s site.
A 3.5-acre fire also started south of the pad site on land in Boca Chica State Park, the FWS noted, though it did not directly say this was a result of the launch. Debris, the FWS reported, was spread over 385 acres that included both lands owned by SpaceX and Boca Chica.
This is what happens to your launchpad when you think it would be funny to launch to the world’s largest rocket on 4/20, instead of when it’s ready.
— Christopher David (@Tazerface16) April 21, 2023
It will probably be at least a year before the FAA will approve another Starship launch. pic.twitter.com/tXytW309a6
Residents in the area had blasted both SpaceX and local officials before the launch about possible disruptions, saying in a statement: “Whenever Elon Musk and his accomplices, the Cameron County Commissioners and Texas General Land Office, close Boca Chica beach for his pet project SpaceX, they destroy our native life ways.”
The FWS noted that it had not found any dead birds or other wildlife on the National Wildlife Refuge lands, which are near the launchpads. Those areas are designated as a habitat for at least one endangered species of bird.
SpaceX has not commented on the damage to the pad, but Musk, on April 21, tweeted the engines’ thrust “may have shattered the concrete, rather than simply eroding it.”
Three years ago, Musk said SpaceX was “aspiring to have no flame diverter [at the launchpad], but this could turn out to be a mistake.” The day after the launch, he said the company had reversed course and started building a “massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount” three months ago.
“Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag [the heat-resistant concrete that made up the pad] would make it through 1 launch,” he said.
Musk added he expected the company could be ready to try again within two months.
The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the SpaceX Starship until it can perform an investigation into the flight.