"SpaceX" spacecraft explodes over the Atlantic Ocean: see what it looks like

"SpaceX" launches the seventh test flight of the Starship mega-rocket from its Starbase base in South Texas, USA. But things did not go as expected.

The spacecraft "went out" with a bang

First, the 123-metre rocket successfully lifted off and performed the separation of the stages. 

The first stage, named "Super Heavy", returned to Starbase, where it was spectacularly captured by the launch tower's "stick" arms.

However, SpaceX lost contact with the upper stage of the Starship spacecraft, known as the shuttle, about eight minutes before the flight. 

It is currently unknown what caused the problem, but one thing is certain - the spacecraft "went out" with a bang.

The 52-metre spacecraft exploded over the Atlantic Ocean near the Turks and Caicos Islands about 8.5 minutes after launch, creating a spectacular celestial spectacle that was witnessed by many people in the area.

Further improve Starship's reliability

Many locals captured the spectacle and shared photos and videos on the X network, which is owned by SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.

"Teams will continue to analyse data from today's test flight to better understand the root cause. 

With tests like this, success lies in what we learn from them, and today's flight will help us improve Starship's reliability," SpaceX wrote.

The incident also showed some positive moments

"Sudden and unplanned structural failures" - SpaceX's preferred term for explosions - are not rare in the development of new rockets.

Clearly, this incident will not stop SpaceX.

The company is used to working fast, flying often and applying the lessons learned from test flights to the development of the next spacecraft model.

However, there was a silver lining in this situation, with the capture of the Super Heavy stage sticks, which demonstrated SpaceX's planned booster and spacecraft return strategy.

This was SpaceX's second such catch, the first having been made in October on the fifth Starship flight.