LAUNCH MISSION
Starship Flight 8
Eighth flight test of Starship and Super Heavy from Starbase. Super Heavy returned to the launch site and was successfully caught by the launch tower; the Starship upper stage lost engines and vehicle control during ascent, communication was lost, and the vehicle later broke apart.
SCHEDULE
Launch date
March 6, 2025
Minute
LAUNCH SITE
Where the mission begins
Starbase, Texas
United States — Texas
MISSION
Program and destination
Starship Flight Test Program
Test Flight
RESULT
Outcome and recovery
Super Heavy completed a return-to-launch-site catch. The Starship upper stage lost multiple engines and vehicle control during ascent; telemetry was later lost and the vehicle broke apart following the mishap.
Partial / Mixed
PROVENANCE
SpaceX
August 30, 2026
May 21, 2025
Official
Official
IGW Original
SpaceX’s May 22, 2025 Flight 8 report states that Starship lifted off March 6, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. CT from Starbase. Super Heavy completed the third successful tower catch. About five and a half minutes into Starship’s ascent burn, an energetic event near a center sea-level Raptor was followed by multiple engine shutdowns and loss of vehicle control. Telemetry was last received about nine and a half minutes into flight; the vehicle was later observed re-entering and breaking apart. SpaceX identified a hardware failure in a center Raptor engine leading to inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition as the most probable root cause. The normalized mission status remains Partial Failure to preserve the mixed outcome.