On Flight 7 and Flight 8, the "rapid unscheduled disassembly" occurred less than 10 minutes after liftoff. Ship flew significantly farther on Flight 9; SpaceX lost contact with the vehicle about 46 minutes after liftoff, and its pieces are likely resting on the Indian Ocean seabed.

A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded late Wednesday night while on a test stand in south Texas, sending a huge fireball and plume of smoke into the sky. On X, SpaceX said a “major anomaly” occurred with the rocket at 11 p.