Extensive Starship damage left wildlife officials ‘stunned’

Though SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket exploded following a manual termination a few minutes into its first test flight in April, the launch arguably caused more damage on the launch pad.

The massive power of the Starship first stage’s 33 Raptor engines at launch blew a crater in the launch pad at SpaceX’s Starbase facility.

It also spread potentially harmful debris far and wide, leading a group of environmental activists to file a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its role in greenlighting the launch.

Now, according to a report from Bloomberg, wildlife officials in the area were left stunned by the launch’s impact, and some say they were prevented from investigating parts of the debris field.