SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded over the Gulf coast, just minutes after leaving the ground.
Kate Tucker, a member of SpaceX, says the team is currently unsure what led to the destruction.
This marked the second attempt to launch the rocket, after an earlier attempt was aborted on Monday.
"Obviously this does not appear to be a normal situation," SpaceX member John Insprucker said during the live broadcast of the launch.
At this time, it has not been confirmed when another attempt will be made.
No people or satellites were on the rocket, which was nearly 400 feet tall.
"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary," SpaceX said.
The launch, which took place along Texas' Gulf Coast, was briefly delayed on Thursday. The countdown clock was stopped at 40 seconds while crews assessed technical aspects of the rocket. The clock restarted minutes later and the rocket took off.
It's unclear whether the technical issues that forced the delay contributed to the rocket exploding.
Despite the obvious problem, SpaceX appeared pleased with the progress it has made thus far.
"Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship," the company stated.
Starship is billed as a "fully reusable transportation system."
This was SpaceX's second attempt at launching the rocket. A previously scheduled launch was scrubbed earlier this week due to technical issues.
The hope is for it to eventually propel humans to the moon and even Mars.
"Starship will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights," SpaceX says.
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Austin "AJ" Janos is a producer for KGUN 9. He graduated in 2022 from the University of Arizona where he worked at UATV3 while attending college. Share your story ideas and important issues with AJ by emailing aj.janos@kgun9.com.
