'Too much diversity': Elon Musk ripped as another rocket blows up and grounds flights

Internet critics leveled SpaceX CEO Elon Musk after another rocket spectacularly exploded Thursday, this time temporarily halting flights into Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando airports over "space launch debris."

A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during its eighth test flight Thursday night. The blast happened shortly after the rocket reached space, with the upper stage experiencing engine failures and tumbling out of control approximately nine minutes into the flight, according to reports.

Witnesses in Florida and the Bahamas shared videos on Musk's X platform of rocket debris falling from the sky. The explosion comes after a similar incident during Starship's seventh test flight in January.

The launch began successfully at 6:30 p.m. from SpaceX's Starbase in southern Texas. The first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, was successfully caught by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. But the upper stage encountered problems as it ascended and SpaceX lost contact with the vehicle.

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Musk, who has faced increasing criticism over his efforts to slash trillions out of the federal budget, found himself the subject of fierce mockery on social media.

"Clearly there is still too much diversity and inclusion at SpaceX," wrote Helen Kennedy‪, former staffer at the New York Daily News and Boston Herald.

"What isn’t Elon Musk f---ing up these days? My god," chided Emily C. Singer, a staff writer at the Daily Kos.

"Seems inefficient," jabbed YouTuber Sam Seder.

"We are all in the debris field of a SpaceX mishap," wrote independent journalist Aaron Rupar.

Watch a clip of the debris falling from the sky below or at this link.