8th Starship launch ends in another colossal blast

Booster sticks the landing, but upper stage fails

The SpaceX Starship’s 8th test flight on Thursday, March 6, 2025, started with a spectacular launch from Boca Chica, Texas. It ended with the upper stage tumbling out of control over the Atlantic Ocean. It eventually met a fiery demise that was visible as far north as Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the Space Coast.

Multiple observers captured video of the explosion. The catastrophic reentry followed a complete loss of control of the upper stage about eight minutes into the test flight. A cloud of fuel formed around the craft before the debris burned.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft lost during eighth test flight, seen here in Titusville, Florida.

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— Helen (@helenmaryme.bsky.social) March 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM

People in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea also witnessed the final moments of the upper stage.

BREAKING: Debris over the Bahamas after SpaceX Starship falls apart during test flight

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— BNO News (@bnonews.com) March 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM

The unscheduled reentry also caused flights to be diverted in order to avoid impacts from debris.

SpaceX lost another Starship shorlty after launch in Texas during Flight 8 and we're seeing flights now begin to divert/manuever possibly due to the potential risk of debris off the coast of Florida into the Altantic. @flightradar24.com

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— Jon Ostrower (@jonostrower.com) March 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM

They went for it again!

The SpaceX Starship – the world’s most powerful rocket – flew again on Thursday, March 6. The mission team scrubbed a test launch on Monday, March 3, 2025.

This is the 8th time the company has flown its super-heavy craft and, as always, it guaranteed excitement. The test flight tried to achieve some of the goals the craft failed to accomplish on its explosive 7th trip.

Here’s what SpaceX said to expect:

The upcoming flight will fly the same suborbital trajectory as previous missions and will target objectives not reached on the previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared toward returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch. The flight also includes the launch, return and catch of the Super Heavy booster.

As during previous test launches, the upper stage targeted a landing in the Indian Ocean. Flight controllers made another successful midair snatch of the main booster back at the Boca Chica, Texas, launch site. If conditions hadn’t allowed that, the booster would have splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.

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7th SpaceX Starship also had a fiery ending

Following the fiery demise of the upper stage during the last test, SpaceX found a “harmonic response” stronger than occurred in ground testing. It was more than the ship could take. SpaceX said:

After vehicle separation, Starship’s six second-stage Raptor engines powered the vehicle along its expected trajectory. Approximately two minutes into its burn, a flash was observed in the aft section of the vehicle near one of the Raptor vacuum engines.

The aft area – known as “the attic” – couldn’t stand the pressure:

Roughly two minutes later, another flash was observed followed by sustained fires in the attic. These eventually caused all but one of Starship’s engines to execute controlled shutdown sequences and ultimately led to a loss of communication with the ship.

The craft then burned on reentry.

Bottom line: The SpaceX Starship rocket made its 8th test flight Thursday, March 6. However, the upper stage exploded in midair eight minutes into the flight.

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