Not to be outdone, commercial space Goliath SpaceX snatched another rocket out of midair in the late afternoon. SpaceX, controlled by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, tested its huge Starship launch vehicle on Thursday afternoon.

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

Elon Musk’s company managed 138 successful orbital launches in 2024 - more than 40 more than the year before. SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell has said that the firm is aiming for even more launches this year, with a good chunk of them being Starship flight tests.

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

The rocket company said the space vehicle came apart during its ascent. Videos posted to social media showed debris streaking through the sky.

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

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

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

AN exploding SpaceX Starship caused chaos in the sky – as planes swerved to avoid it and the flaming wreck caused property damage. Flights of the Elon Musk rocket system have now been

Mars in 2024 was the site of the sad end of a machine that lived far beyond expectations. On January 18, NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flew for the last time. Given that on landing its rotors broke off, that's a pretty definitive conclusion.

The United States grounded SpaceX's Starship and ordered Elon Musk's company to investigate why the spaceship spectacularly disintegrated.