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

Losing the Block 2 Starship on its debut flight was not the optimal outcome. But SpaceX still managed to make significant progress on Flight 7. In October, SpaceX made history by snaring the Super Heavy booster from the sky using a pair of metal chopstick arms attached to a tower on the launch pad,

Elon Musk's company saw mixed results today, with Starship's booster sticking the landing while the upper stage failed during ascent.

SpaceX's seventh Starship test flight will now launch no earlier than Thursday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT).

The uncrewed Starship spacecraft was apparently destroyed during its first flight launch of 2025 that blasted off from south Texas.

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad. Elon Musk’s company said Starship broke apart — what it called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.

However, the rocket system's upper stage, which was packed with upgrades for the flight test, did not survive the launch and appeared to break apart over the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. SpaceX confirmed on the live broadcast that the spacecraft's engines started to go out prior to planned engine cut-off and Starship later stopped delivering telemetry data.