Elon Musk’s SpaceX company’s mammoth new rocket, Starship, has exploded on its maiden flight, the BBC reported.
No-one was hurt in the uncrewed test that lifted off from Texas’ east coast on Thursday morning local time.
After around three minutes into the flight, the rocket – the biggest ever developed – started to tumble out of control and was destroyed, most probably by onboard charges.
Mr Musk has said his company will try another launch in a couple of months.