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.

The third Starship test flight last March saw the spacecraft reach its planned trajectory and fly halfway around the world before succumbing to the scorching heat of atmospheric reentry. In June, the fourth test flight ended with controlled splashdowns of the rocket's Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and of Starship in the Indian Ocean.

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

Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starship test flight ended in failure as the spacecraft exploded and broke apart, following a suspected fuel leak in the engine firewall.

SpaceX is set to launch the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket, which will include a crucial test for how it will deploy satellites.

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.

The primary objectives for SpaceX were stress-testing the new ship and avionics, catching the booster at the launchpad for potential reuse, deploying the dummy satellites in space, and a targeted water landing. It wasn't immediately known what caused the redesigned spaceship to fail.

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