SpaceX lost the upper stage of its Starship rocket on Thursday, the company said. It was the rocket's seventh orbital test after experiencing engine anomalies as it ascended toward space.
"At this point in time, we can confirm we did lose the ship," SpaceX's Kate Tice said during a webcast of the operation. "We always knew that excitement is guaranteed today, success not guaranteed."
Officials for Elon Musk's company said the spacecraft was destroyed.
"Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly," SpaceX wrote on X.
What do we know about the failed SpaceX Starship launch?
The Starship upper stage, two meters (6.56 feet) taller than previous versions, successfully detached from its Super Heavy booster around four minutes into flight as planned.
But minutes later SpaceX Communications Manager Dan Huot said on a live stream that mission teams had "all communications with the ship."
"It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship," Huot added, saying it would take time to determine what happened.
The Starship was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a looping trajectory around the planet.
The spacecraft was packed with 10 mock satellites and was supposed to practice releasing them.
The upgraded Starship system stands roughly 37 stories tall and lifted off from the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas, at 5:38 p.m. local time (2238 GMT/UTC).
It was the company's seventh test mission and the first test of 2025.