Elon Musk’s SpaceX faces another setback when it explodes in space during its eighth test flight Thursday, March 6.
The 403-foot Rocket exploded from the constellation in Bocachika, Texas at around 6.30 p.m.
But within minutes of the launch, the ferry crew lost contact because it was designed to land astronauts on the moon and the ferry crew headed to Mars.
The rockets were scattered in Florida and the Bahamas.
The explosion occurred after several engines were cut off, causing the spacecraft to lose altitude control.
“During the rising burning of Starship, the car underwent a rapid unplanned disassembly and the contact was lost,” SpaceX said in a statement.
“Our team immediately began coordinating with security officials to implement a pre-planned emergency response.
“We will review the data from today’s flight tests to better understand the root cause. As always, success comes from what we have learned, and today’s flight will offer more lessons to improve the reliability of the Starship.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued ground notices for multiple flights after launching tests on Thursday and said it would require SpaceX to conduct an unfortunate investigation into Starship’s losses.
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando Airports were notified due to “space launch debris” until 8pm (1 a.m. in the UK).
Departures at four Florida airports were delayed by an average of 45 minutes due to the incident.
This was when the rocket exploded in the Bahamas after eight minutes of a previous Starship test flight in January.
Just saw the Bahamas Starship 8 blow up @spacex @Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/rtmju23ovx
— Jonathan Norcrossusa (@norcrossusa) March 6, 2025
Crazy shots! Starship breaks into the bahamas’ ruined islands.
pic.twitter.com/cdf1cagfki– Graphic Earth (@thegraphicearth) March 7, 2025
