SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket was destroyed Tuesday during an uncrewed test flight launched from Texas. The vehicle lost control approximately 30 minutes after liftoff.

Reports indicate a fuel leak caused the Starship to spin uncontrollably. SpaceX confirmed the rocket then experienced a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly,’ meaning it broke apart.

Despite the failure, the company, led by Elon Musk, stated that such tests provide crucial data. SpaceX emphasized that lessons learned will directly contribute to improving Starship’s reliability. The company maintains its long-term goal of developing Starship for human travel to Mars and other planets.

This particular Starship flew further than some previous test vehicles before its mission ended abruptly. The incident aligns with SpaceX’s “fail fast, learn fast” development strategy, which accepts failures as part of the innovation process.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) monitored the launch and had implemented safety protocols for the test area. SpaceX will analyze the flight data to prepare for future Starship development and test flights.

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