The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

A RAGGED Island resident said he found debris from a SpaceX Starship rocket along the beach on Tuesday afternoon while on the shoreline with his daughter.

Craig Maycock, Sr, said the largest fragment of the debris was about a foot long.

“It had a little funny smell,” he added, sharing photos with The Tribune.

His apparent discovery came after a SpaceX Starship rocket was launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas on March 6, 2025. It was intended to re-enter over the Indian Ocean but lost communication and disintegrated about nine minutes into the flight. The explosion was visible from several regions, including Florida, Cuba, The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Turks and Caicos.

Reports of debris in The Bahamas prompted a recovery team from SpaceX to arrive on March 7, coordinating with officials from The Bahamas. An initial assessment by the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) and SpaceX on March 8 in Crooked Island found no debris in the waters.

On March 9, senior DEPP officials and SpaceX’s recovery team conducted aerial reconnaissance, identifying debris near Ragged Island. Several pieces were retrieved, and underwater recovery operations began on March 10.

 Mr Maycock said he collected three tubs of debris, including steel, brick, and tile blocks, some with serial numbers. In a video, he described the debris as “rocket booster parts like dirt.”

 His wife, Ms Rochelle Maycock, said the rocket’s explosion was terrifying and said the government must do more to protect residents from what Ragged Island residents see as a new hazard: falling rocketship debris.

 “When the explosion started, I thought it was an earthquake,” she said. “I said, ‘What the hell, we having an earthquake.’ The ground started shaking, and when I talk about shaking, I mean literally. I was so scared.”

 “That thing dangerous, you know.”

 This incident is not the first time SpaceX debris has fallen, as similar occurrences in the past have raised concerns about environmental and safety risks. Falling debris in January damaged a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

 US regulatory agencies have determined that a rocket’s materials — stainless steel and silica-based heatshield tiles — do not pose risks to water, air quality, or marine life.

 Bahamian government officials said last week that they had launched independent environmental assessments, including tests for toxic contaminants, rocket fuel residues, and seabed disruption. Sampling of water and air quality is also underway.

 Officials have promised to release a formal statement on the findings and next steps.

 The Office of the Prime Minister has also emphasised that SpaceX’s Starship rocket differs from the Falcon 9 rockets, which are partially reusable and used for missions like satellite launches and cargo delivery to the International Space Station. The Starship is a more powerful rocket, still in development, and intended for long-distance missions. Operations for the Starship fall under the jurisdiction of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

 The government has entered into an agreement permitting up to 20 Falcon 9 booster landings in The Bahamas, with each entry requiring a separate licence from the Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas.