Australian airline Qantas has said it is being repeatedly forced to delay its flights operating between Sydney and Johannesburg in South Africa with little notice due to warnings the airline receives about descending debris from Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. The delays of up to six hours are being caused due to last-minute changes in coordinates for the location and timing of the re-entry of rockets from Musk’s space technology firm.

According to a Qantas spokesperson, the airline has been receiving little advance warning as to where and when exactly the debris would fall, leaving the carrier with little choice but to delay the flights until the risk had passed. The rocket debris is directed to fall into the southern Indian Ocean due to its remoteness and distance from any landmass. However, this is causing a significant problem for Qantas whose six-weekly A380 flights from Sydney International Airport (SYD) to Johannesburg ORT Tambo International Airport traverse this exact area on their route.        

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve had to delay several flights between Johannesburg and Sydney 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 Ben Holland, Head of the Qantas Operations Centre in Sydney speaking to The Guardian.  

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