SpaceX’s Starship, world’s biggest rocket, explodes during test flight

SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft, atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket, falls back to earth as it explodes following the launch from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on a brief uncrewed test flight near Brownsville, Texas, U.S. April 20, 2023. © Gene Blevins, Reuters

SpaceX’s giant new rocket blasted off on its first test flight Thursday but exploded minutes after rising from the launch pad and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.

Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. It carried no people or satellites.