The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built lifted off around 6:36 pm (2336 GMT) from the company's Starbase facility, near a southern Texas village that earlier this month voted to become a city -- also named Starbase.
But signs of trouble emerged quickly: the first-stage Super Heavy booster blew up instead of executing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
Though the ship flew farther than on its two previous attempts, it sprang leaks and began spinning out of control as it coasted through space.
“Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly,“ SpaceX posted on X -- a familiar euphemism for fiery failure -- while stressing it would learn from the setback.
He did not say, however, whether he still planned to deliver a live stream about Mars that SpaceX had been promoting.
Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, the black-and-white behemoth is designed to eventually be fully reusable and launch at low cost, carrying Musk's hopes of making humanity a multi-planetary species.
Ahead of the launch, dozens of space fans gathered at Isla Blanca Park on nearby South Padre Island, hoping to catch a glimpse of history.
Australian Piers Dawson, 50, told AFP he’s “obsessed” with the rocket and built his family vacation around the launch -- his first trip to the United States, with his wife and teenage son whom he took out of school to be there.
'Fail fast, learn fast'
SpaceX is betting that its “fail fast, learn fast” ethos, which helped it dominate commercial spaceflight, will once again pay off.
This ninth flight marked the first time SpaceX reused a Super Heavy booster, though it opted not to attempt a catch -- instead pushing the envelope with a steeper descent angle and one engine intentionally disabled.
The FAA recently approved an increase in Starship launches from five to 25 annually, stating the expanded schedule wouldn't harm the environment -- a decision that overruled objections from conservation groups concerned about impacts to sea turtles and shorebirds.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Starship megarocket blows up over Indian Ocean in latest bumpy test )
Also on site :