The 123-metre rocket blasted off on its ninth demo from Starbase, SpaceX's launch site at the southern tip of Texas

CEO Elon Musk's SpaceX hoped to release a series of mock satellites following liftoff, but that got nixed because the door failed to open all the way. Then the spacecraft began spinning as it skimmed space toward an uncontrolled landing in the Indian Ocean

SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced "a rapid unscheduled disassembly", or burst apart

"Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test," the company said in an online statement

Musk noted in a post on X it was a "big improvement" from the two previous demos, which ended in flaming debris over the Atlantic

Despite the latest setback, he promised a faster launch pace moving forward, with a Starship soaring every three to four weeks for the next three flights

It was the first time one of Musk's Starships -- intended for moon and Mars travel -- flew with a recycled booster. There were no plans to catch the booster with giant chopsticks back at the launch pad, with the company instead pushing it to its limits

Contact with the booster was lost at one point, and it slammed into the Gulf of Mexico in pieces as the spacecraft continued toward the Indian Ocean. Then the spacecraft went out of control, apparently due to fuel leaks

"Not looking great with a lot of our on-orbit objectives for today," SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said