The latest test of Space X's giant Starship rocket has failed, minutes after launch. Officials at Elon Musk's company said the upper stage was lost after problems developed after lift-off from Texas on Thursday. But the Super Heavy booster managed to return to its launchpad as planned, prompting an eruption of applause from ground control teams.

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

The agency launched an investigation into the “space vehicle mishap” on Thursday night that forced commercial flights to divert and caused debris to rain toward Caribbean islands.

Despite the spectacular failure, Elon Musk appeared to see the bright side, posting: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"

SpaceX's Starship will fly for the seventh time ever early next week, if all goes according to plan. SpaceX announced today (Jan. 8) that it's targeting Monday (Jan. 13) for Flight 7 of Starship, the 400-foot-tall (122 meters), fully reusable megarocket designed to help humanity settle the moon and Mars.

SpaceX succeeded Thursday in once more catching the descending first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket in the "chopstick" arms of its launch tower, a stunning engineering feat it first accomplished in October.

SpaceX just stacked its Starship megarocket to prepare for the vehicle's seventh test flight, which is scheduled for Jan. 13.

SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites but no crew, eight minutes after liftoff.

WASHINGTON >> 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.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to X on Thursday night to explain what his company believes may have caused part of the Starship rocket to experience a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

Hours after Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin nailed its first-ever orbital mission, SpaceX seized back the spotlight on Thursday as its latest test of Starship, its gargantuan next-generation megarocket, ended with the upper stage dramatically disintegrating over the Atlantic.