SpaceX’s Starship has exploded shortly after takeoff in the second launch failure this year for Elon Musk’s interplanetary exploration programme. But Musk’s rocket company was able to successfully return its mammoth first-stage booster to the launchpad following Thursday’s test-flight,

SpaceX’s ambitious Starship rocket met a fiery end during its eighth test flight on March 6, 2025. The day began with high hopes as SpaceX prepared to launch its mammoth 123-meter (403-foot) Starship rocket.

SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight ended in a fiery explosion shortly after launch, scattering debris over Florida and marking another setback in the company’s ambitious plans for deep-space exploration.

Starship successfully launched on Wednesday for its eighth suborbital flight test in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. (Credit: SpaceX)

After SpaceX's Starship broke into pieces shortly after liftoff on Thursday night, there are new questions if it will effect the mission to retrieve the two astronauts stuck in space, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.