The US has landed a SpaceX Starship after an explosion during a test flight

The U.S. has grounded SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket while an investigation into why it exploded during its latest test flight is underway.

The rocket’s upper stage abruptly broke off and disintegrated over the Caribbean after launch from Texas on Thursday, prompting airline flights to divert to avoid falling debris.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is working with SpaceX and other authorities to confirm reports of damage to public property in the Turks and Caicos Islands. There are no reports of casualties.

Elon Musk’s company has been ordered to investigate the “accident” by aviation regulators, who will review the findings before deciding whether Starship can return to flight.

The FAA confirmed it had activated a “debris response zone” to briefly slow aircraft outside of the zone where the debris fellor prevent aircraft from leaving departure points.

He added that several planes were asked to divert due to low fuel levels when they were outside the damaged area.

Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built and is key to Musk’s ambitions to colonize Mars.

Thursday’s uncrewed launch was Starship’s seventh test mission and the first involving a more advanced version of the rocket.

The Starship’s upper stage, two meters (6.56 feet) taller than previous versions, was a “next-generation ship with significant upgrades,” SpaceX said before the test.

It was scheduled to make a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch from Boca Chico, Texas.

The Starship system lifted off at 5:38 p.m. EST (10:38 p.m. GMT), and the upper stage separated from its superheavy rocket pod nearly four minutes into the flight, as planned.

But then SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot announced live that the mission teams had lost contact with the craft.

The super-heavy launch vehicle managed to return to the launch pad about seven minutes after liftoff, as planned, prompting thunderous applause from the ground control teams.

SpaceX later confirmed that the upper stage had undergone a “rapid unscheduled dismantling”.

In a post on his X social media platform, Musk said “preliminary indications” were that the problem was related to “an oxygen/fuel leak into the cavity above the ship’s engine firewall.”

The billionaire added that “so far, there is no indication that the next launch will be postponed until next month.”

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and superheavy rocket, collectively called Starship, are 123m (403ft) tall and designed to be fully reusable, the company said.

NASA hopes to use a modified version of the rocket as a human lander for its Artemis missions to return to the moon.

In the more distant future, Musk wants Starship to make long-distance trips to Mars and back — about nine months each way.

Thursday’s Starship test launch came hours after the maiden flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket system, backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

It was a huge step forward for Bezos and his company, which had spent years trying to send a rocket into orbit.

Bezos and Musk want to dominate the space vehicle market.