Musk's SpaceX rocket experiences 'rapid, unscheduled disassembly,' explodes shortly after liftoff during historic test

On Thursday morning, Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the most powerful rocket ever created, but shortly after liftoff, the 400-foot-tall Starship experienced a "rapid, unscheduled disassembly."

The rocket, which took off from Boca Chica, Texas, around 8:28 a.m., exploded midair over the Gulf of Mexico after it failed to separate from its booster and began tumbling out of control.

The explosion occurred approximately four minutes into the flight. Prior to the explosion, the rocket was traveling more than 1,300 miles per hour and approximately 18 miles above the ground.

No one was onboard the spacecraft, and no injuries or property damage were reported.

The test rocket, which SpaceX hopes to develop to transport people to the moon starting in 2025 and eventually Mars, was supposed to orbit around the Earth and land in the ocean near Hawaii.

The test launch was initially scheduled for Monday but was delayed due to a frozen valve.

Following the failed launch, SpaceX engineer John Insprucker stated, "Starship just experienced what we call a rapid, unscheduled disassembly, or RUD, during ascent."

"Now this was a development test, this was the first test flight of Starship, and the goal is to gather the data and as we said, clear the pad and get ready to go again. So you never know exactly what's going to happen, but as we promised, excitement is guaranteed! Starship gave us a rather spectacular end to what was truly an incredible test," Insprucker added.

In response to the launch, Musk posted on Twitter, congratulating the team on "an exciting test launch of Starship!"

"Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months," he added.

On a Sunday Twitter Spaces call, Musk told subscribers that he would consider the test a success if the rocket did not cause damage to the launch pad.

"Starship is the biggest rocket ever made," he explained. "It's over twice the thrust of a Saturn 5, the Saturn 5 moon rocket, which is largest rocket ever to get to orbit, it's roughly twice the mass. So, we've got 33 engines on the booster, we've got six engines on the upper stage of the ship. It's a lot of engines."

"So I guess I would just like to set expectations low," he continued. "If we get far enough away from the launch pad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that to be a success. Just don't blow up the launch pad!"

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