Starship SN8

Block 2 Starship Prototype

Mission Profile

Starship SN8 (Serial Number 8) was the first SpaceX Starship prototype to conduct a full high-altitude flight test, launching on 9 December 2020 from Boca Chica, Texas and climbing to approximately 12.5 km before executing the novel belly-flop aerodynamic descent maneuver. The vehicle demonstrated the flip-and-burn reentry sequence that is central to Starship's design, and four of the six flight objectives were met including the aerodynamic control surfaces and three-engine cluster performance. However, a fuel header tank pressure problem caused insufficient thrust during the landing burn and SN8 impacted the landing pad at high velocity and exploded in a spectacular fireball. The mission was considered a major engineering success despite the landing failure, validating the radical aerodynamic approach that SN15 would later perfect.