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SpaceX's eighth test flight of the Starship rocket ended in a late-stage explosion on Thursday night, leading to air traffic disruptions as debris lit up the sky. The flight, which took off from a Texas facility at 6:30 p.m. ET, failed shortly after its first-stage booster successfully landed back at the launch pad. According to SpaceX, an “energetic event” caused the rocket to lose power and spin uncontrollably, resulting in the destruction of several Raptor engines.
The rocket ascended to nearly 150 kilometers before communications were lost approximately nine and a half minutes post-launch. The company stated that it had followed safety protocols, launching within a designated corridor to minimize risk to the public. Flights at Orlando International Airport were temporarily grounded due to the explosion, as debris was reported re-entering the atmosphere over parts of Florida and the Bahamas.
SpaceX acknowledged the setback, expressing that lessons learned from this incident would contribute to the future reliability of the Starship program. An investigation is underway to determine corrective actions for upcoming tests.