SpaceX's massive Starship rocket successfully blasted off into the atmosphere for its third unmanned test flight but was then destroyed while returning to Earth on Thursday, the company said.
A test flight of around one hour was planned, after which both rocket stages were to land in the sea. But the splashdown in the Indian Ocean was unsuccessful and the Starship was destroyed.
"The ship has been lost," a SpaceX commentator said on the company's live stream.
Nevertheless, SpaceX said the third test achieved significantly more of its objectives than the previous two launches, which also failed.
During a first test last April, the entire missile system exploded after just a few minutes. During a second test in November, the two rocket stages separated and the upper stage continued to fly, but shortly afterwards both exploded separately.
The Starship - consisting of the approximately 70-metre-long Super Heavy booster and the approximately 50-metre-long upper stage, also called Starship - was designed to enable manned missions to the moon and Mars.