On December 9, 2020, at 22:45 UTC, Starship SN8 was the first fully assembled Starship to be flown.

Powered by three (3) Raptor engines, RSN 30, 36 and 42, SN8 successfully launched and flown all the way to 12,5km (41,000 ft). It then performed the skydive/belly flop descent maneuver, relit its engines fueled by the CH4 and LOX header tanks and attempted the flip maneuver.

Unfortunately, low pressure in the fuel header tanks, as a result of the flip maneuver, caused an engine to flame out and the other to not produce enough thrust, resulting in a hard landing and destruction of SN8.