US grounds SpaceX’s Starship after flight explosion test

The Starship is the largest, 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 taller, upgraded version of the rocket.

The Starship’s upper stage, two meters (6.56 ft) taller than the previous version, is a “new generation ship with significant improvements”, SpaceX said before the test.

This is due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after its launch from Boca Chica, Texas.