SpaceX Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch in South Texas

SpaceX's unmanned rocket exploded moments after liftoff Thursday on its planned round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas on Boca Chica Beach.

Pictures showed the rocket had several of the 33 engines not working at liftoff as it blasted 24 miles from the launch pad.

The booster was supposed to break away from the rocket minutes after liftoff but it did not happen and the rocket exploded four minutes after liftoff and plunged into the Gulf of Mexico.

The plan was for the rocket to continue east and circle the world and then crash into the Pacific near Hawaii.

Spectators on Boca Chica Beach screamed "Go, baby, go" as the rocket lifted off.

Elon Musk tweeted in the weeks before the launch that he was giving it 50-50 odds of reaching orbit.

Starship overshadows NASA's moon rockets past, present, and future, and the stainless steel rocket was designed to be fully reusable with a fast turnaround which really lowers costs.

Thursday's flight was not meant to have anything saved from that test flight, so the explosion will not be a setback for the mission.

A few years ago, the spacecraft flew several miles into the air and landed successfully only once, but this launch was meant to be the inaugural launch of the first-stage booster with 33 methane-fueled engines.

SpaceX has plenty more launches planned for their boosters and spacecraft in future test flights and Musk wants to launch them one after the other so he can get started using the rockets to launch into low-Earth orbit with passengers on board.