SpaceX Rocket Test Reaches Milestone—And Ends With Explosion

SpaceX’s second test flight of its massive Starship rocket ended early Saturday when the uncrewed vehicle’s spacecraft blew up, though the launch made it farther than the company’s previous attempt.

SpaceX said it lost contact with the Starship spacecraft about 15 minutes after launching from the company’s spaceport east of Brownsville, Texas, around 8 a.m. ET. A self-destruct mechanism appeared to trigger after contact was lost, exploding the craft, according to a SpaceX livestream.