A Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) disaster management team, alongside UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), met with representatives from SpaceX on Saturday 25 January 2025 to develop a recovery plan for debris that landed through TCI following the SpaceX Starship incident.
TCIG representatives included:
• Department of Disaster Management & Emergencies
• Department of Environment and Coastal Resources
• Department of Maritime Shipping
• Environmental Health Department
• National Security Secretariat
Following finalisation of the recovery plan in consultation with UK specialist leads, the public will be made aware of the arrangements and necessary protocols.
Members of the public are urged to report all sightings of potential space debris, by sending details to nationalsecurity@gov.tc with the subject title Space X Debris. Email to include:
• Location of the debris - island and coordinates
• Time the debris was sighted
• A photograph of the debris alongside another object for scale; without touching the debris
• These guidelines also apply to any maritime observations of debris (date, time, location and photograph).
As a measure of precaution the government is urging residents who may come into contact with any of the debris to wear gloves or hand covering, adding that should direct contact be made with debris, urges handwashing.
On January 16, 2025, excitement and fear gripped the Turks and Caicos Islands as individuals watched in bewilderment as streaks of fire sailed through the sky accompanied by thunderous sounds.
Minutes later it was announced that the sevenths SpaceX Starship that lost control and exploded minutes after take-off, was the cause.
SpaceX suspects a fire may have caused its Starship to break apart during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk said preliminary indications are that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall. The resulting fire would have doomed the spacecraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered SpaceX to investigate what went wrong. The FAA said there were no reports of injuries from Starship debris.
The 400-foot Starship — the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket — launched from the southern tip of Texas on a test flight early that Thursday evening. The booster made it back to the pad for a catch by giant mechanical arms, only the second time in Starship history. But the engines on the still ascending spacecraft shut down one by one, and communication was lost 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.
Dramatic video taken by individuals in the Turks and Caicos Islands showed spacecraft debris raining down from the sky in a stream of fireballs. Flights near the falling debris had to be diverted, the FAA said.
SpaceX said Starship remained in its designated launch corridor over the Gulf of Mexico and then the Atlantic. Any surviving wreckage would have fallen along that path over water, the company said on its website.
Starship had been shooting for a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, halfway around the world. Ten dummy satellites, mimicking SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, were on board so the company could practice releasing them.
It was the seventh test flight of a Starship, but it featured a new and upgraded spacecraft. The FAA said it must approve SpaceX’s accident findings and any corrective actions.
SpaceX said the booster and spacecraft for the eighth demo are already built and undergoing testing. Musk said on X the loss was “barely a bump in the road” in his plans to build a fleet of Starships to carry people to Mars.
In the meantime, the local authorities are reminding members of the public that space debris remains the property of the spacecraft owner, noting that the SpaceX incident is an active investigation led by the FAA in liaison with the UK and TCI.
“The safety of the residents and visitors to the TCI continue to remain our highest priority,” a news release from the TCI Government.
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