SpaceX flies Starship rocket; it crash lands on launch pad By Paul Brinkmann ( 0 ) SpaceX's Starship lifts off on a test flight from Texas on Wednesday afternoon. Photo courtesy of SpaceX Dec. 9 (UPI) -- SpaceX sent its new-generation Starship rocket into the Texas sky just before sunset Wednesday and and saw it crash-land in a massive fireball on its launch pad. The test flight was the first high-altitude attempt for the vehicle, which lifted off at 5:45 pm. EST from the company's launch and development site in Boca Chica, about 180 miles south of Corpus Christi. ADVERTISEMENT Elon Musk 's company offered no commentary or reaction to the flight, which included the possible loss of one of three Raptor engines. But the rocket appeared to reach the intended altitude -- nearly 8 miles high. That model rocket, eyed as a transport vehicle to the moon and possibly Mars, also performed a flip maneuver mid-flight that the space company had planned. RELATED SpaceX abort...