Shocked Scientists Reveal Elon Musk's Exploding Starship 'Tore a Hole in the Sky' Never Seen Before

Space exploration often pushes the boundaries of our understanding, but Elon Musk's Starship test flight has reportedly delivered something unprecedented. Scientists are now grappling with the aftermath of the launch, claiming it created an anomaly in the atmosphere unlike anything they have witnessed before.

In November 2023, SpaceX's colossal Starship, owned by Musk, took off for its second test flight. Instead of breaking records, it appears to have altered the sky. Researchers say the launch's intense energy created a gap in the upper atmosphere, resulting in a phenomenon not previously observed.

Shockwave From Starship Rips Through the Ionosphere

The booster detached as expected but exploded mid-air four minutes later. Shortly after, Starship itself exploded approximately 93 miles above Earth. That second explosion generated such force that it tore through the ionosphere—the electrically active layer of the atmosphere that enables radio wave transmission and supports satellite operations.

'Usually, such holes form due to chemical reactions from engine fuel. But this time, it was caused by the sheer shock wave from the Starship explosion,' said Yury Yasyukevich, ionosphere physicist and lead researcher at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Using data from both satellites and ground-based observatories, scientists observed that the gap in the ionosphere remained open for 30 to 40 minutes before it naturally closed.

Plasma Disruption Confirmed by GNSS Data

Yasyukevich's team relied on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, which detect signals from orbiting satellites, to assess the blast's impact on the ionosphere.

This atmospheric layer is primarily composed of plasma—a state of matter that includes uncharged gas molecules, free electrons, and positive ions. The analysis showed that the explosion's shock wave disrupted the plasma, scattering free electrons and forming a temporary hole where the ionosphere's typical properties vanished.

Scientists also proposed that any unburnt rocket fuel released during the blast might have reacted chemically with the ionosphere, potentially 'reinforcing the depletion and extending its duration.'

A Rare Scientific Opportunity

While more research is needed to understand the full implications of this phenomenon, Yasyukevich and his colleagues viewed the event as a rare scientific opportunity.

'Analysing the data and understanding their nature, we understand more deeply the structure of the ionosphere, [and] the nature of the phenomena that occur in it,' Yasyukevich told TASS, the Russian state news agency.

Their findings were published in August 2024 in Geophysical Research Letters. Starship's atmospheric disruption is just one chapter in the rocket's volatile history.

Starship's Explosive Track Record

Starship experienced a similar failure during its first orbital test flight in April 2023, when it began to spin out of control roughly four minutes after liftoff. It was just 18 miles in altitude when a self-destruct command was issued, causing it to explode mid-air.

Debris from the explosion rained down on Boca Chica, Texas, prompting a federal investigation and a lawsuit from several environmental organisations, who raised concerns about the rocket's potential environmental impact.

Since its debut, Starship has undergone eight test flights, with four ending in explosions. As of now, SpaceX has yet to achieve a fully successful Starship launch in 2024.