Starship Flight 8
Starship's eighth flight test lifted off from Starbase, Texas, at the top of its window, about 5:30 in the evening Central time, with all 33 booster engines lit. The Super Heavy booster was caught at the tower, but the ship lost several engines near the end of its ascent burn, lost attitude control and contact with it was lost.
What happened
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Watch this moment · 0:58
33 of 33 engines
All Raptors on the booster lit, and the vehicle passed Max Q shortly after.
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Watch this moment · 2:58
Boostback
The ship's six engines lit while attached to the booster. The booster commanded 13 engines for the boostback burn and got 11.
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Watch this moment · 7:07
Tower catch
Using four grid fins, the booster flew back for a landing burn and settled into the chopstick arms. The webcast called it the third catch.
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Watch this moment · 8:31
Engines cut out
Several of the ship's engines went out about 20 seconds before the end of the ascent burn, and the ship lost attitude control.
- Watch this moment · 10:18
Key facts
| Vehicle | Starship, Super Heavy |
|---|---|
| Mission name | Starship Flight 8 |
| Launch site | Starbase, Texas |
| Crew size | 0 |
| Outcome | Partial success |
Videos about this mission
The videos, in date order
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March 2025
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Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.
What was planned
The ship was due to coast for about 40 minutes after reaching orbit-like speed, up to an altitude of 214 km. It was already over 100 km when the engines failed. The cause is not given in the webcast; SpaceX said it would post updates.
Questions and answers
What happened on Flight 8?
The booster was caught by the tower. The ship lost several engines and attitude control near the end of the ascent burn and contact was lost.
Was the booster caught?
Yes, by the chopstick arms.
Why did the ship fail?
The webcast does not say. SpaceX promised updates.
Sources: The facts and written text on this page come from the 1 video on this page, by The Launch Pad.
