Elon Musk’s Mars ambitions suffer new setback following latest failure
SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded mid-flight during its eighth test launch from Starbase, Texas, disrupting air traffic over Florida. The upper stage lost power after separating from the Super Heavy booster. While the upper stage failed, the Super Heavy booster was caught by the launch tower. This was Starship's second explosive test this year. The test aimed to deploy a payload into orbit for the first time. Elon Musk aims to use Starship for Mars missions and deploying next-generation Starlink satellites. There were also reported threats by a SpaceX engineer/DOGE volunteer to FAA employees, to get them to accelerate agency work by the company, for a lucrative federal contract.
