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BREAKING NEWS SpaceX has provided an update on what went wrong during Starship Flight 8 on March 6th, 2025. The following provides some excerpts from this update, the full update is linked in the comments. 
For Booster 15's Boostback burn, only 11 our of 13 Raptor engines ignited, while 12 out of the 13 planned ignited for the Landing Burn, which was followed by a successful catch of the booster by the Chopsticks at the launch and catch tower at Starbase. The most probable cause for engines not relighting during the boostback and landing burn phases was traced to torch ignition issues on the individual engines caused by thermal conditions local to the igniter. Post-flight testing was able to replicate the issue and engines on future flights will have additional insulation as mitigation.
Approximately five and a half minutes into Starship 34's ascent burn, a flash was observed in the aft section of the vehicle near one of the center Raptor sea level engines followed by an energetic event that resulted in the loss of the engine. Immediately after, the remaining two center Raptor engines and one of the Raptor vacuum engines shut down and vehicle control authority was lost.
Starship flew within a designated launch corridor to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water, and in the air. All debris came down within the pre-planned Debris Response Area, and there were no hazardous materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality.
The most probable root cause for the loss of Starship was identified as a hardware failure in one of the upper stage’s center Raptor engines that resulted in inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition. Extensive ground testing has taken place since the flight test to better understand the failure, including more than 100 long-duration Raptor firings at SpaceX’s McGregor test facility.
To address the issue on upcoming flights, engines on the Starship’s upper stage will receive additional preload on key joints, a new nitrogen purge system, and improvements to the propellant drain system. Future upgrades to Starship will introduce the Raptor 3 engine which will include additional reliability improvements to address the failure mechanism.
While the failure manifested at a similar point in the flight timeline as Starship’s seventh flight test, it is worth noting that the failures are distinctly different. The mitigations put in place after Starship’s seventh flight test to address harmonic response and flammability of the ship’s attic section worked as designed prior to the failure on Flight 8.
BREAKING NEWS SpaceX has provided an update on what went wrong during Starship Flight 8 on March 6th, 2025. The following provides some excerpts from this update, the full update is linked in the comments. For Booster 15's Boostback burn, only 11 our of 13 Raptor engines ignited, while 12 out of the 13 planned ignited for the Landing Burn, which was followed by a successful catch of the booster by the Chopsticks at the launch and catch tower at Starbase. The most probable cause for engines not relighting during the boostback and landing burn phases was traced to torch ignition issues on the individual engines caused by thermal conditions local to the igniter. Post-flight testing was able to replicate the issue and engines on future flights will have additional insulation as mitigation.
Approximately five and a half minutes into Starship 34's ascent burn, a flash was observed in the aft section of the vehicle near one of the center Raptor sea level engines followed by an energetic event that resulted in the loss of the engine. Immediately after, the remaining two center Raptor engines and one of the Raptor vacuum engines shut down and vehicle control authority was lost.
Starship flew within a designated launch corridor to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water, and in the air. All debris came down within the pre-planned Debris Response Area, and there were no hazardous materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality.
The most probable root cause for the loss of Starship was identified as a hardware failure in one of the upper stage’s center Raptor engines that resulted in inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition. Extensive ground testing has taken place since the flight test to better understand the failure, including more than 100 long-duration Raptor firings at SpaceX’s McGregor test facility.
To address the issue on upcoming flights, engines on the Starship’s upper stage will receive additional preload on key joints, a new nitrogen purge system, and improvements to the propellant drain system. Future upgrades to Starship will introduce the Raptor 3 engine which will include additional reliability improvements to address the failure mechanism.
While the failure manifested at a similar point in the flight timeline as Starship’s seventh flight test, it is worth noting that the failures are distinctly different. The mitigations put in place after Starship’s seventh flight test to address harmonic response and flammability of the ship’s attic section worked as designed prior to the failure on Flight 8.
