Yusuf Balogun
The most powerful rocket ever constructed, SpaceX's Starship exploded midair shortly after it launched in Texas.
The uncrewed rocket disintegrated minutes after successfully blasting off at 8:33 am Central Time (1333 GMT) from Starbase, in Boca Chica.
It gathered speed but then started to spin at altitude before exploding about four minutes after leaving the ground.
Two sections of the rocket system – the booster and cruise vessel – were unable to separate properly after takeoff, possibly causing the spacecraft to fail.
Despite the failure to complete the full 90-minute flight test and reach orbit, SpaceX's Elon Musk declared it a success.
“Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!” Musk tweeted. “Learned a lot for the next test launch in a few months.”
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