Anish Vij
Elon Musk's latest SpaceX Starship rocket lost contact minutes into the test flight before it exploded.
The 403-foot rocket that blasted off from Texas came tumbling down when videos posted on social media showed it break apart over Florida.
For what was supposed to be a one hour mission, the rocket reached nearly 90 miles in altitude before four mock satellites could be deployed.
Despite the explosion, the rocket landed successfully back to the base pad with the help of giant mechanical arms.
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SpaceX confirmed that the aircraft suffered 'a rapid unscheduled disassembly' during the ascent engine firing.
“Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement.
According to the Daily Mail, the incident caused flight diversions and air traffic chaos, as SpaceX confirmed they would work with the FAA.
They added: "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests."
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“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
This incident happened nearly two months after an explosion sent debris onto the Turks and Caicos Islands.
But people in Florida were stunned after witnessing the most recent explosion, as one viewer said on X: "You can only imagine my confusion driving on the highway and seeing what I now know is a piece of a SpaceX aircraft."
Sharing a video of the debris, a second user said: "Remember when Elon Musk attacked our astronauts, claiming that NASA wouldn’t let SpaceX pick up the people stranded on the ISS.
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"Yeah — I’m sure 'politics' is the reason they don’t want to use the SpaceX Starship."
"If NASA had the failure rate SpaceX does, Elon Musk would be firing everyone and Congress would be demanding to know where the money is going," a third person said.
Not everyone was so negative about the space test, however, as one person added: "That was a beautiful launch and landing.
"Progress is not always linear and I know the SpaceX team will continue to iterate and improve Starship as humanity marches toward Mars."
Responding to the comment, Musk said: "Rockets are hard."
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"But worth it... keep pushing forward SpaceX team! The world and solar system will be better for it," the person replied.
Musk founded SpaceX back in March 2002, and his goal was to reduce space transportation costs and enable the colonisation of Mars.