SpaceX's Starship explodes (again) during its eighth test flight

SpaceX has lost another Starship, as the vehicle's eighth test flight ended in an explosion just like its seventh. The first few minutes of the flight went according to plan: SpaceX launched the Starship rocket from its Starbase facility in Texas at 6:30PM Eastern time on March 6, and its first stage Super Heavy booster flew back down and was successfully captured by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. The event marked the third time SpaceX was able to capture the booster with the tower's mechanical appendages.

The vehicle's upper stage called the "Ship" was supposed to deploy four dummy Starship satellites as part of the test run before splashing down into the Indian Ocean around 50 minutes later. But eight minutes into the flight, the Ship lost multiple Raptor engines, causing it to lose altitude until it ultimately exploded over the Caribbean. Several people ...