Debris from SpaceX rockets re-entering the Earth's atmosphere has required aircraft operating in the Southern Indian Ocean to make last-minute changes to schedules and routes. Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) and South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) are the only scheduled passenger carriers that normally operate in this zone.
“Over the past few weeks, we‘ve had to delay several flights between Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Sydney Kingsford Smith due to advice received from the US government regarding the re-entry of SpaceX rockets over an extensive area of the Southern Indian Ocean," said the head of operations at Qantas, Ben Holland.
Qantas operates a 6x weekly A380-800 service between Sydney and Johannesburg that typically overflies the sub-Antarctic zone of the Southern Indian Ocean.
"While we try to make any changes to our schedule in advance, the timing of recent launches have moved around at late notice which has meant we’ve had to delay some flights just prior to departure," said Holland. "Customers generally understand this is outside of airlines’ control and that we can’t fly in the area when the rocket re-entry is taking place. We’re in contact with SpaceX to see if they can refine the areas and time windows for the rocket re-entries to minimise future disruption to our passengers on the route."
South African Airways operates a 5x weekly A340-300 flight between Johannesburg and Perth International that traverses the Southern Indian Ocean region, although its does not fly as far south as the Qantas flights. Several SAA services have also been disrupted. The airline did not respond to a request for comment from ch-aviation.
Since its first launch in 2006, SpaceX has conducted around 440 launches and has around 150 scheduled this year. While the rocket boosters are reusable and return in a controlled process, the capsules and other payloads, such as decommissioned satellites, often burn up on re-entry. That often happens in less populated parts of the world, such as the Southern Indian Ocean region. Surviving debris can pose a risk to aircraft.
