Explosive second test flight of SpaceX's Starship rocket is launched

For its second test flight, SpaceX launched its Starship rocket Saturday morning. The booster exploded after detaching and the capsule allegedly detonated after reaching space.

SpaceX said the giant rocket, which will carry NASA humans to the moon, launched from Boca Chica, Texas, using all 33 engines. The booster detached from the spaceship and exploded after a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" according to SpaceX.

SpaceX officials claimed during a livestream that Starship's engines fired for several minutes before losing data from the rocket's second stage. Officials say the spaceship detonated.

"The automated flight termination system on second stage appears to have triggered very late in the burn as we were headed downrange out over the Gulf of Mexico," aerospace engineer John Insprucker said webcast.

The booster failed to separate during the initial flight test, but SpaceX congratulated its team on a successful lift-off and booster separation months later.

SpaceX cannot execute a third Starship flight test until the FAA certifies public safety. SpaceX must file a license modification to add flights, the FAA stated.

The boosters failed to separate during the first April test, causing the rocket to self-destruct three minutes after liftoff.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated the second test flight participants.

NASA's Artemis program will send 100 people on long-duration interplanetary missions to the moon and Mars on Starship.