The SpaceX Starship - developed by Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX - blasted off from Texas on Thursday for its seventh test flight, but it encountered difficulties

SpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket for the seventh time. It achieve an epic booster catch but the ship was lost.

SpaceX said the ship experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” moments after a dramatic, successful booster catch at the launchpad.

Debris from the Starship spacecraft that blew up in midair on Thursday prompted flight diversions in the area.

The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at

The "rapid unscheduled disassembly" was likely caused by a propellant leak, Elon Musk said, and was captured on video by spectators on the ground.

Starship's previous six test flights occurred in April and November of 2023 and March, June, October and November of last year. SpaceX aimed to conduct a chopsticks catch of Super Heavy on Flight 6 as well, but a communication issue with the launch tower nixed that try, and the booster diverted for a Gulf of Mexico splashdown.

SpaceX's Starship was destroyed during its seventh test flight on Thursday night, with the rocket breaking apart less than 10 minutes after blasting off

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is collaborating with SpaceX and other authorities to verify reports of damage to public property on the Turks and Caicos Islands. This investigation follows the dramatic failure of SpaceX’s Starship rocket,

Elon Musk’s company said Starship ultimately broke apart, calling it a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” The spacecraft’s six engines appeared to shut down one by one during ascent, with contact lost just 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.

One of the big firsts in 2024 came from SpaceX as it finally managed to fly its Starship into space without blowing up. That's not bad for the world's largest rocket, which dwarfs even the Apollo era Saturn V,