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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Business
Elias Visontay Transport and urban affairs reporter

Qantas South Africa flights delayed by falling debris from SpaceX rockets, airline says

A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster rocket seen launching earlier in January
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster rocket seen launching earlier in January. The possibility of debris from rocket re-entry has forced Qantas to delay several flights between Australia and South Africa. Photograph: Jennifer Briggs/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Qantas says it has been forced to delay several of its flights to South Africa at the last minute due to warnings of falling debris from Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets re-entering Earth.

Ben Holland, the head of Qantas’s operations centre, said there was often little advance notice of where the rockets would fall over the southern Indian Ocean – the re-entry zone chosen by the space company due to its remoteness – causing the airline to delay flights on its Sydney-Johannesburg route.

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