SpaceX's Starship spacecraft went out of control during its eighth test flight. Eight minutes into the flight, several of the Raptor engines failed, the ship began to spiral and exploded over the Atlantic Ocean.
The team launched Starship aboard a super-heavy lift rocket, and the first eight minutes of flight went smoothly. The ship successfully separated and headed into space, while the booster returned to the launch pad in Texas, where it was successfully caught by the launch tower for the third time.
The Starship flight was scheduled to place four mock-ups of Starlink satellites into orbit. However, at about eight minutes and nine seconds into the flight, a SpaceX broadcast showed that four of the Raptor engines had failed and the ship began to spin.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has temporarily suspended flights at major Florida airports due to concerns about “space launch debris.”
Debris from the ship was spotted over the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. SpaceX said it "immediately began coordinating with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency measures."
This is the second test launch in a row that has resulted in an explosion of the ship. The company conducted an investigation and determined that a fuel leak occurred inside the Starship, causing a fire and loss of communication with the ship before it exploded.
Ahead of its eighth test launch, SpaceX said it had improved the lines that feed fuel to Starship's engines and changed the fuel temperature. It also added additional vents and a "new purge system" to better guard against any leaks.