SpaceX’s ambitious Starship program suffered another setback Thursday as the spacecraft spiraled out of control during a test flight, marking the second consecutive mission to encounter a major failure en route to orbit.
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded flights into major Florida airports and rerouted others as a precaution against potential “space launch debris.” The agency has since mandated that SpaceX conduct a formal mishap investigation to determine the cause of the failure.
Starship launched atop its Super Heavy booster from Texas, initially appeared to perform as expected. The spacecraft successfully separated from the booster, which made a controlled return to the launchpad. However, just over eight minutes into the flight, telemetry data indicated that multiple Raptor engines aboard Starship had failed. Onboard footage showed the vehicle tumbling uncontrollably over the ocean.