SpaceX, the private space technology company owned by Elon Musk, is asking federal authorities to approve a new round of tests for a prototype reusable rocket, but some of them may never make it back to the surface intact and will crash in the ocean.

However, the rocket system's upper stage, which was packed with upgrades for the flight test, did not survive the launch and appeared to break apart over the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. SpaceX confirmed on the live broadcast that the spacecraft's engines started to go out prior to planned engine cut-off and Starship later stopped delivering telemetry data.

SpaceX confirmed the upper stage had undergone "rapid unscheduled disassembly," the company's euphemism for an explosion.