• Starship vehicle key to Musk’s goal of going to Mars

• SpaceX has been launching and upgrading the rocket since 2023

SpaceX’s mammoth Starship spun wildly out of control before appearing to break apart during its eighth test flight, another setback to Elon Musk’s company less than two months after its last mission ended with an explosion.

A few minutes after blasting off on Thursday, the rocket’s two portions split apart as planned. The Super Heavy booster then returned to Earth, where it was caught midair by the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms.

But then the Starship spacecraft began tumbling as it headed to space roughly eight minutes into flight, and mission control eventually lost contact with the vehicle.

While Starship ignited all six of its Raptor engines as planned, some engines started to malfunction before the engines were supposed to cut off, one of the SpaceX livestream hosts said. At that point, Starship started careening out of control.

SpaceX then ended the video feed and said it would provide updates later.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control system command center issued an automated advisory alerting operators to falling debris, suggesting the rocket had broken apart.

The FAA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Spectators posted video on X of debris raining down near the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.

The flight was the second-straight launch of Starship that has been cut short around the 8-minute mark. The company had a slate of upgrades it aimed to test, including Starship’s ability to deploy satellites into space, something it intended to do during the last attempt before it was cut short.

Starship is key to SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Musk’s dream of sending humans and cargo to the moon and Mars. SpaceX has been periodically launching Starship on a series of test flights since 2023, with the goal of upgrading the rocket’s capabilities each time.

SpaceX planned to test a number of other upgrades during the flight, including more robust flaps that the rocket uses for steering through the atmosphere and better propulsion and navigation systems.

Engineers also aimed to restart one of Starship’s Raptor engines while it’s in space, a necessary technique the spacecraft will need in order to one day maneuver in orbit.

Like previous missions, the intention was for the upper portion of the rocket to go on a partial lap around the Earth before splashing down in a controlled landing roughly an hour later in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia.