SpaceX pulled off its “chopsticks” catch of a Super Heavy rocket booster but lost the Starship spacecraft on Thursday during the vehicle’s seventh uncrewed test flight.

After the successful booster recovery, SpaceX officials reported losing contact with the spaceship toward the end of the ascend.

Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, pulled off a daring booster catch on its most ambitious test flight yet, but the spacecraft was lost. Follow for the latest news.

SpaceX called the event a "rapid unscheduled disassembly," a tongue-in-cheek term denoting a rocket explosion, "during its ascent burn," in a statement posted to X-formerly-Twitter. "Teams will continue to review data from today's flight test to better ...

The "rapid unscheduled disassembly" was likely caused by a propellant leak, Elon Musk said, and was captured on video by spectators on the ground.

SpaceX readies its seventh test flight of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever designed. The trial will test upgrades to the spacecraft and deploy mock satellites.

"Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity."

Elon Musk’s company managed 138 successful orbital launches in 2024 - more than 40 more than the year before. SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell has said that the firm is aiming for even more launches this year, with a good chunk of them being Starship flight tests.

SpaceX is targeting a 4½-hour launch window for another Starlink mission from 2:21 p.m. to 6:52 p.m., an FAA operations plan advisory shows.

Starlink plans to start beta testing its Direct-to-Cell service. The beta test will include its global cellular partners, including T-Mobile.

SpaceX is preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Monday afternoon that will carry internet-beaming Starlink satellites into orbit.

Republicans put Pennsylvania and Wisconsin back in the win column in the 2024 presidential race, and they're hoping that momentum carries over to contests this year that will determine whether their state Supreme Courts retain left-leaning majorities or flip to conservative control.