Qantas delays flights to avoid SpaceX rocket parts

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Qantas was forced to postpone flights between Australia and South Africa after the US government warned the airline about the risk that parts of SpaceX rockets in the southern Indian Ocean could re-enter the atmosphere.

The Australian airline said on Tuesday it had postponed several flights between Sydney and Johannesburg in recent weeks, with delays ranging from one to six hours.

Ben Holland, head of the Qantas operations center, said the timing of recent re-entries of rocket parts from Elon Musk’s SpaceX into the atmosphere had been “shifted,” forcing the airline to postpone some flights shortly before their scheduled departure.

He added: “We are in contact with SpaceX to see if they can clarify the ranges and time windows for rocket re-entries to minimize future disruption to our passengers on the route.”

Few airlines fly across the remote southern Indian Ocean, but Qantas has operated the route from South Africa to Australia – known as the Wallaby route – since the early 1950s.

It is a route regularly used by tourists, South Africans living in Australia and mining industry executives.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. regulator, licenses all commercial launches and re-entries of space rockets within the U.S. as well as those conducted by American companies abroad.

Rocket launches are typically carefully calibrated to ensure that rocket parts returning to Earth land in remote areas of the ocean. The exact location will depend on the flight, with aircraft and ships advised to avoid the re-entry zone.

The Qantas incidents are not the first time flights have been affected by spaceflight debris, although such situations are rare.

In 2022, more than 300 flights were delayed because Spanish airspace was partially closed due to fears that remnants of a Chinese missile could re-enter uncontrolled.

SpaceX’s development of larger, reusable rockets could exacerbate the problem for commercial airlines in the short to medium term, said Maxime Puteaux of space consulting firm Novaspace.

Airspace could be closed to commercial air traffic for longer than necessary while regulators develop tools to integrate aviation take-off and re-entry into airspace management. “We are still in a learning process for controlled re-entry,” he said. “It’s a 10 to 15 year learning curve.”

Still, the number of rocket launches is expected to increase significantly as several new spacecraft come onto the market to meet increasing demand for satellite services from space, such as broadband and Earth observation.

Last year, rocket launch attempts worldwide reached a record 259, with 256 successful.

SpaceX accounted for more than half of that number and is expected to increase its launch pace this year as the company puts its giant Starship rocket into service. The seventh test flight is scheduled to take place this week, although the date has already been postponed.

Rival rocket company Blue Origin, backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, will also fly its reusable New Glenn rocket in the coming days after canceling its maiden flight on Monday because of an icing problem.

Most rockets use sections called stages that carry their own fuel and engines. As the fuel burns, the stage is separated from the rocket and it either burns up upon re-entry into the atmosphere or is sent to a remote part of the ocean where it sputters.

In reusable rockets, the booster section returns to Earth in a controlled re-entry to land on a barge or land-based launch pad. This has helped dramatically reduce the cost of launching into space and increase demand for services from space.

However, there were times when parts fell back to Earth outside the controlled zones. Last year, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 was grounded after three incidents in which parts re-entered outside the controlled water protection zone.

Qantas shares fell 2 percent in Australia after news of flight delays emerged.

SpaceX has been contacted for comment.