SpaceX has suffered another setback with its Starship program, as the eighth test flight of the vehicle ended in a catastrophic explosion, mirroring its seventh. The initial stages of the flight proceeded as planned, with the Starship rocket launching from the Starbase facility in Texas at 6:30 PM Eastern time on March 6. The first stage Super Heavy booster successfully flew back down and was captured by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms, marking the third time SpaceX has achieved this feat.

The upper stage of the vehicle, known as the “Ship,” was intended to deploy four dummy Starship satellites as part of the test run before splashing down into the Indian Ocean approximately 50 minutes later. However, just eight minutes into the flight, the Ship experienced a loss of multiple Raptor engines, resulting in a loss of altitude and ultimately leading to an explosion over the Caribbean. Witnesses to the event shared videos of the Ship’s debris streaking across the sky.

According to TechCrunch, SpaceX disclosed in February that the seventh Starship test flight ended in an explosion due to propellant leaks that caused fires. To prevent a similar incident, the company implemented several measures, including the addition of vents and a new purge system to make the ship more resistant to leaks. SpaceX also conducted an extended static fire test to verify the effectiveness of its changes.

SpaceX released a statement on X, stating that the eighth test flight of the Starship “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly” during its ascent burn. Although the company still needs to review the flight data to determine the root cause of the issue, it posted an update on its website, revealing that “an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship” prior to the ascent burn led to the loss of the engines. SpaceX lost contact with the Ship at approximately nine minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted flights departing from and arriving at some of Florida’s busiest airports due to “space launch debris.” The agency also instructed TechCrunch that it is requiring SpaceX to conduct a “mishap investigation” to determine the cause of the failure, and a more detailed report is expected in the future.