Qantas flights have reportedly faced delays as a result of the possibility of falling debris created by Elon Musk’s Space X spacecraft.
Flights between Australia and South Africa have faced ongoing delays over the past weeks following warnings of Space X debris re-entering the atmosphere over parts of the Southern Indian Ocean.
The debris is associated with Space X’s first-stage boosters of its smaller Falcon Nine rockets after delivering satellites and crew to orbit.
As a result of its remoteness and distance from any landmass, the rocket debris is directed toward the southern Indian Ocean which is a key part of the Qantas A380 flight path from Sydney to Johannesburg.
Head of Qantas’ Operation Centre Ben Holland said flights have been delayed based on advice from the U.S. government.
"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.
Aerotime obtained recent data from Flightradar24 which shows that flight QF63 has faced several significant delays of more than three hours over recent weeks.
"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,” said Holland.
Additionally, South African Airways is believed to be experiencing similar delays on flights to and from Australia as a result of Space X’s operations.
Space X has yet to publicly address the issue.