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.

US regulators and government officials in Turks and Caicos are looking into reports of property damage in the island nation caused by debris falling after a SpaceX Starship vehicle exploded over the ocean during a test mission Thursday,

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

The Super Heavy booster, meanwhile, was successfully caught in the launch tower's mechanical arms for only the second time

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.

Elon Musk's company saw mixed results today, with Starship's booster sticking the landing while the upper stage failed during ascent.

SpaceX's seventh Starship test flight will now launch no earlier than Thursday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT).

The US has grounded SpaceX's giant Starship rocket while an investigation is carried out into why one 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, forcing airline flights to alter course to avoid falling debris.

SpaceX confirmed the upper stage had undergone "rapid unscheduled disassembly," the company's euphemism for an explosion.

A fire in the aft section of SpaceX's Starship trigged the apparent explosion that destroyed the spacecraft, the company says.