Bahamas government says debris from rocket fell in Bahamian airspace

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Bahamian government Friday said officials from the SpaceX are due there following Thursday night’s explosion of a SpaceX Starship rocket with debris falling into Bahamian airspace.

“The debris from Starship fell into our airspace in the Southern Bahamas. Following the incident, SpaceX contingency measures, which includes immediate and continual communication with Bahamian officials,” the government said in a statement.

The government said it has since been assured by SpaceX that the debris contains no toxic materials and that it is not expected to have any significant impact on marine life or water quality.

“SpaceX teams will be in The Bahamas to conduct full debris recovery and clean-up efforts. We expect our applicable agencies, inclusive of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection will observe the clean-up activities.”

The SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft exploded on Thursday minutes after lifting off from Texas, dooming an attempt to deploy mock satellites in the second consecutive failure this year for Elon Musk’s Mars rocket programme.

Several videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship’s breakup in space, which occurred shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off.

“On the evening of March 6, 2025, SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from Starbase in Texas, United States. Minutes after take-off, contact was lost with the spacecraft, and debris was subsequently observed streaming over The Bahamas,” according to the statement issued by the government.

“The Bahamas has no regulatory authority under The Bahamas’ Civil Aviation (Space Flight and Re-Entry) Regulations, 2025 over SpaceX’s Starship operations and this incident is not part of The Bahamas’ existing relationship with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 programme, which involves controlled booster landings in Bahamian waters following launches from Kennedy Space in Florida. The FAA issues the launch licence for Starship exercises,” the statement added.

Last month, the Bahamian tourism officials said they expect the country to become a key player in the rapidly growing space tourism sector, as its first international rocket landing took place off the coast of The Exumas.

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