Residents of Tortola and Anegada were rattled early Saturday morning by a loud, unexplained boom that reverberated through the territory. While many initially speculated the noise was related to seismic activity, given the BVI’s proximity to fault lines, others discounted that theory due to the lack of accompanying tremors.
Information received by our news desk suggests the true source of the boom was likely an exploding SpaceX rocket somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico. The rocket was reported to have exploded at an altitude of about 148 kilometers after launching from Texas, which aligns with the timing and location of the disturbance heard in the BVI.
According to reports from international agencies, the incident involved SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket, standing over 120 meters tall.
While the flight ended in flames, SpaceX still considers the test a success for surpassing benchmarks set by an earlier Starship launch in April. That attempt saw the rocket self-destruct at 39 kilometres up.
Remember, the media will do its best to try to portray this launch as a failure, don’t fall for it. They are chasing $, whereas on 𝕏, the truth is exposed. There is no such thing as “failure”. Every setback is a stepping stone for something greater. We are going to Mars. pic.twitter.com/odsLSNZs3O
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) November 18, 2023
Today’s flight comes after months of scrutiny from regulators following the April debacle, which damaged the launch pad and rained debris on a nearby town. The FAA investigated the mishap, requiring SpaceX to implement 63 corrective actions before launching again.