SpaceX has lost contact with its Starship mega rocket during its second test flight from south Texas.
The 397ft rocket – the largest and most powerful ever built – arced out over the Gulf of Mexico after blasting off, with SpaceX aiming to separate the spaceship from its booster and send it into space.
It was aiming for an altitude of 150 miles – just high enough for the spacecraft to travel around the globe before aiming to ditch into the Pacific near Hawaii 90 minutes after lift-off.
But eight minutes into the flight, the company announced on its livestream that it had lost contact with the booster, and was assuming the rocket had failed.
The Starship’s first flight, in April, lasted just four minutes before an explosion sent the wreckage crashing into the gulf.
Since then, SpaceX had made dozens of improvements to the booster and its 33 engines, as well as the launch pad.
Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.
