SpaceX's huge Starship rocket comes crashing down minutes into test flight

Another SpaceX rocket has blown up during its test flight - this time a mammoth Starship rocket, which exploded minutes after being blasted off from Texas in the US

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A mammoth SpaceX rocket came tumbling down minutes into its test flight today.

The rocket broke apart when it lost contact soon after blasting off from Texas. Wreckage from the 403-foot structure was seen streaming from the skies as far Florida, some distance east.

It is not immediately known whether the spacecraft's self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up. However, footage shared online shows flaming debris rain down following the out-of-control spin.

SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean.

It is the latest in several failed test flights for SpaceX rockets, including one which exploded in January again after leaving Texas. A witness to that blast said: "That's crazy, I've never seen anything like that in my life. That's wild."

And SpaceX conceded history repeated itself after Thursday's disastrous attempt. Dan Huot, of Elon Musk's company, said: "Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now."

SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced "a rapid unscheduled disassembly" during the ascent engine firing. In a statement posted online, the firm said: "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses."

A witness shared footage online of debris flying over the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory off the Florida coast. Other social media users posted haunting pictures of the starship blowing up in the evening's skies.

But NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.

Starship had mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.

Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.