SpaceX, the private space technology company owned by Elon Musk, is asking federal authorities to approve a new round of tests for a prototype reusable rocket, but some of them may never make it back to the surface intact and will crash in the ocean.

Passengers on Qantas flights between Sydney and Johannesburg have encountered unexpected delays recently, with the airline attributing the disruptions to falling rocket debris from Elon Musk ’s SpaceX. The southern Indian Ocean, a region frequently crossed by Qantas flights, has become a designated splashdown zone for re-entering SpaceX rockets.