SpaceX's Latest Starship Test Flight Ends With Another Explosion

SpaceX's eighth Starship test flight ended in failure after losing control and breaking apart shortly after launch, sending debris over Florida. 'Starship didn't make it quite as high or as far' as the attempt nearly two months ago,' notes NPR. That attempt ended with an explosion that sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos. From the report: This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft's self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up. The 403-foot rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.

Starship reached nearly 90 miles in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online. The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour. 'Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,' SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site. SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced 'a rapid unscheduled disassembly' during the ascent engine firing. 'Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,' the company said in a statement posted online. You can watch a recorded livestream of the launch on X.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.