SpaceX’s Starship V3 exploded in a dramatic fireball after splashing down in the Indian Ocean at the end of its first uncrewed test flight. The towering rocket blasted off on Friday evening, 22 May, from SpaceX’s Starbase site near Brownsville, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX launched its upgraded Starship V3 rocket from Starbase, Texas, on Friday in the latest test of the world’s largest and most powerful rocket system.

The mission served as the much-anticipated debut of SpaceX’s third-generation megarocket, a heavily redesigned, souped-up vehicle configuration officially dubbed Version 3 (V3).