A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program.

Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, pulled off a daring booster catch on its most ambitious test flight yet, but the spacecraft was lost. Follow for the latest news.

Shortly after Friday's rehearsal, SpaceX pushed Starship's seventh test flight to Wednesday. See the new schedule for the rocket's first 2025 flight.

The US has grounded SpaceX's giant Starship rocket while an investigation is carried out into why it exploded during its latest test flight. The rocket's upper stage dramatically broke up and disintegrated over the Caribbean after launching from Texas on Thursday,

Elon Musk’s space company was conducting the seventh flight of its Starship rocket.

Starship experienced a "rapid unscheduled disassembly," which is a phrase SpaceX coined to describe an explosion.

After the successful booster recovery, SpaceX officials reported losing contact with the spaceship toward the end of the ascend.

SpaceX launched 21 of its Starlink internet satellites early Jan. 21, five days after a test flight of the company's Starship megarocket ended in an explosion.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has suspended SpaceX rocket flights following the explosion of the upper stage of the Starship/Super Heavy. An investigation of the rain of space debris that fell to Earth after the explosion is necessary.