WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program.

SpaceX said the ship experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” moments after a dramatic, successful booster catch at the launchpad.

President Donald Trump's new administration is likely to do away with the White House's National Space Council, a cabinet policy panel that lobbyists at Elon Musk's SpaceX have been pushing to axe, according to three people familiar with the plans.

Elon Musk has been condemned as "a mixture of mad and right-wing extremist" by professor Jens-Christian Wagner, a historian who runs the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial, the largest in Germany.

The incident in which a SpaceX rocket broke up after launch demonstrates the challenges the FAA will face as the number of commercial space flights increases.

Flawed rocket launches by SpaceX and Blue Origin still leave both companies in position to dominate the space sector.

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight Thursday, catching the booster back at the pad but losing contact with the ascending spacecraft as engines went out. Officials for ...

SpaceX launched the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost communication with the uncrewed upper stage of the rocket that continues on into space. "We can confirm that we ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX suspects a fire may have caused its Starship to break apart during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean. SpaceX’s Elon Musk said ...

Qantas Airline flights have been delayed due to the risk posed by falling debris from SpaceX rockets during reentry over the Southern Indian Ocean.

It underscores how special interests see the billionaire as a shortcut to Trump to push their agenda. Read more at straitstimes.com.

WASHINGTON - SpaceX lost its Starship rocket during its seventh test flight on Jan 16, an unexpected setback after the company had made steady progress during its test flight campaign for the vehicle.