SpaceX's Starship spins out of control after flying past points of previous failures
However, its early demise, appearing as a fireball streaking eastward through the night sky over Southern Africa, puts another pause in Musk's speedy development goals for a rocket bound to play a central role in the US space programme.
Nasa plans to use the rocket to land humans on the moon in 2027, though the moon programme faces turmoil amid Musk's Mars-focused influence over US President Donald Trump's administration.
Federal regulators had granted SpaceX a licence for Starship's latest flight attempt four days ago, capping a mishap investigation that had grounded Starship for nearly two months.
The last two test flights, in January and March, were cut short moments after lift-off as the vehicles blew to pieces on ascent, raining debris over parts of the Caribbean and disrupting scores of commercial airline flights in the region.
The Federal Aviation Administration expanded debris hazard zones around the ascent path for Tuesday's launch.
The previous back-to-back failures occurred in early test flight phases that SpaceX had easily achieved before, in a striking setback to a programme that Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who founded the rocket company in 2002, had sought to accelerate this year.
Musk, the world's wealthiest individual and a key supporter of Trump, was eager for a success after vowing in recent days to refocus his attention on his business ventures, including SpaceX, after a tumultuous foray into national politics and his attempts at cutting government bureaucracy.
Closer to home, Musk also sees Starship as eventually replacing the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as the workhorse in the company's commercial launch business, which lofts most of the world's satellites and other payloads to low-Earth orbit.
Reuters
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