"The mishap investigation is focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle, which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned."

The largest, most powerful launch vehicle ever built is meant to be a key part of SpaceX’s plans to send humans to Mars—and NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon, too

After launch, an apparent propellant leak entered its suborbital trajectory left Starship spinning and mission control unable to control the craft.

Although the flight did not end as well as SpaceX officials hoped, the company made some tangible progress Tuesday. Most importantly, it broke the streak of back-to-back launch failures on Starship's two most recent test flights in January and March.

The Federal Aviation Administration is demanding an accident investigation into this week’s out-of-control Starship flight by SpaceX. Tuesday's test flight from Texas lasted longer than the previous two failed demos of the world's biggest and most powerful rocket,

SpaceX has faced criticism for its previous Starship test failures. Its executives insist that building fast, destroying expensive hardware, and learning quickly from mistakes are all part of the company's philosophy — in stark contrast with NASA 's much slower approach.

SpaceX’s colossal Starship rocket suffered a leak, tumbled out of control in space and disintegrated as it hurtled back to Earth during a test flight on Tuesday, the third setback in a row for the Elon Musk-led company.

The consecutive failures may have decreased the likelihood SpaceX can meet NASA’s goal of landing on the moon in 2027, experts said.