The upper stage of SpaceX's Starship megarocket exploded over the Atlantic Ocean during the vehicle's Flight 7 test today (Jan. 16), and lots of people saw the sky show.

Debris from the rocket's upper stage may have caused property damage, prompting an investigation into Starship's "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

James Temple was "in the right place at the right time" to take these dramatic images of SpaceX's Starship's seventh flight test disintegrating above the Atlantic Ocean

A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded shortly after liftoff on a test flight Thursday. Jan. 16, 2025. (Greg Munch/TMX)

SpaceX conducted the seventh flight test of its Starship launch vehicle on Thursday. The company called it “the most capable” Starship yet—and the only fully reusable one, according to ABC.

Live updates from Tuesday morning’s SpaceX Starlink 13-1 mission that launched a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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.

SpaceX Starship's Seventh Flight Test Turns Into An Amazing Photo Bomb During a Zman video production shoot for the new Big BallerZ™ Ball Tail jerk bait in Plum

Following stage separation, the Falcon 9 rocket booster settled for a landing on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.

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

The "rapid unscheduled disassembly" was likely caused by a propellant leak, Elon Musk said, and was captured on video by spectators on the ground.