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.

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.

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.

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

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

After exploding, the craft sent blazing debris across the sky and forced multiple aircraft flying over and near the Caribbean to divert.

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

Starship's previous six test flights occurred in April and November of 2023 and March, June, October and November of last year. SpaceX aimed to conduct a chopsticks catch of Super Heavy on Flight 6 as well, but a communication issue with the launch tower nixed that try, and the booster diverted for a Gulf of Mexico splashdown.

SpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket for the seventh time. It achieve an epic booster catch but the ship was lost.

This is the spectacular moment the SpaceX Starship exploded and crashed over the Turks and Caicos Islands. Footage shows the falling debris leaving a fiery trail as it streaked across the picturesque blue-orange Caribbean sky,

Government officials in Turks and Caicos said Friday that debris from a SpaceX rocket test that went awry fell over the Caribbean islands but that there have been no reported injuries so far and only minimal damages to property.