SpaceX has lost control of its Starship rocket during the latest flight test of the biggest rocket ever built.
The 123-metre-tall rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas on Thursday at 5.30pm local time (11.30pm GMT).
Starship lost power in several engines of its upper stage, just minutes after it separated from the Super Heavy booster. Footage showed it spinning down to Earth before cutting to black.
“We fly to learn, and we’re learning a lot,” SpaceX said during a live stream of the launch. “Progress isn’t always linear.”
The flight test comes just six weeks after the last Starship launch, which ended in a fiery explosion over the Turks and Caicos Islands.
SpaceX boss Elon Musk has pushed for a rapid testing schedule in order to speed up the development of Starship.
“Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable,” SpaceX said ahead of Thursday’s launch attempt.
“But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.”
The eighth test flight was set to follow the same trajectory as the sixth Starship mission, which saw the second stage rocket splash down in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX named several new objectives that had never before been achieved for the latest mission, including the first ever deployment of a payload into orbit. Four dummy Starlink satellites were set to be released during the 90-minute flight test.
The huge payload capacity of Starship means that it will be charged with delivering SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink satellites into orbit when operational, though the primary goal for the rocket is to conduct missions to Mars.
Mr Musk has said he hopes to establish a permanent human colony on the Red Planet by 2050, with plans to build a fleet of thousands of Starship rockets in order ferry crews and cargo throughout the Solar System.
