During a test flight on Thursday, SpaceX’s Starship experienced a loss of control while in space, marking the second consecutive launch where the vehicle encountered a critical issue on its path to orbit. This incident occurred after the previous launch ended in a similar failure.

As a precautionary measure, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted flights to major airports in Florida and rerouted several others due to concerns about “space launch debris.” This decision was made in response to the potential risks associated with the malfunctioning Starship.

The test flight began smoothly, with the Starship launching successfully using its Super Heavy booster. The ship separated from the booster and entered space, while the booster returned to the launchpad in Texas, where it was safely caught by the launch tower for the third time.

However, approximately eight minutes and nine seconds into the flight, the Starship experienced a critical failure, losing multiple Raptor engines. The on-board footage showed the ship spiraling out of control over the ocean, leading to a loss of attitude control.

Dan Huot, SpaceX’s communications manager, stated during the broadcast, “We’ve lost some engines, and it appears we’re losing control of the ship. At this point, we’ve lost contact with the ship.” The incident resulted in the Starship breaking apart over the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic a short time later.

Footage of the incident was shared on social media, showing the ship disintegrating. SpaceX announced that it had initiated coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses. The company has been working to address the issues that led to the failure.

These back-to-back explosions have occurred amidst controversy surrounding SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s recent actions, including his attempts to overhaul the US federal government with his so-called Department of Government Efficiency. This has included deploying employees to the FAA, which oversees SpaceX’s flights, causing chaos across the government.

The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident. An automated reply from the press office stated that the FAA’s press box is only staffed on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

SpaceX had planned to deploy four dummy Starlink satellites during the test flight, a crucial step towards using Starship for commercial missions. The company has been developing Starship through rapid successive test flights, learning from both successes and failures.

The latest failure comes just a few weeks after the seventh test flight, which ended in a similar catastrophic failure over the islands of Turks & Caicos, resulting in the FAA diverting several flights in the area.

SpaceX conducted a “mishap investigation” into the previous failure and determined that propellant leaks inside the Starship caused fires and a communications blackout, leading to the ship’s self-destruction. The company made improvements to the fuel lines, adjusted the propellant temperature, and added extra vents and a new purge system to mitigate similar issues in the future.

In previous test flights, SpaceX’s Starship broke apart while attempting to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The company implemented changes in the seventh test flight to better understand how to prepare the ship for re-entry. Ahead of the latest test flight, SpaceX stated that it was focused on finding the real-world limits of Starship to eventually return it to the launch site and catch it.

The company announced on X that with Flight 8, the goal was to push the boundaries of Starship’s capabilities and gather valuable data to inform future developments.