The incident in which a SpaceX rocket broke up after launch demonstrates the challenges the FAA will face as the number of commercial space flights increases.

The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to investigate what went wrong on their respective

The rocket company’s effort to demonstrate payload deployment, land its upper stage and potentially achieve spaceship-to-spaceship fuel transfer this year had an inauspicious start when the Starship system suffered a setback during the Jan. 16 flight. Minutes after launch, the Block 2 upper stage broke up when a fire developed in the aft section.

The Federal Aviation Administration has paused SpaceX's the launch of its Starship rocket as the U.S. agency oversees an investigation by the private company of the breakup after a test launch Thursday.

On Friday, the FAA issued a mishap investigation against SpaceX after the upper stage of the Starship lost communications and then blew up during its seventh test flight on Thursday minutes after its launch from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX for the third time scrubbed plans to launch 27 more Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with an earlier one postponed because of a Delta jet nearby.

The FAA says it has grounded the Starship vehicle pending a mishap investigation, and it’s working with SpaceX to assess reports of property damage in Turks and Caicos.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it will oversee an investigation by Elon Musk's SpaceX into an explosive Starship test flight the previous day that forced airlines to divert dozens of flights to avoid debris.

"During the event, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location."

The FAA grounded SpaceX's Starship pending an investigation into the failure that caused the rocket to break apart midflight after launching on Thursday.

SpaceX halted the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday with 11 seconds to spare after a plane allegedly flew into restricted airspace near the launchpad.