The upper stage of SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded minutes after launch from Texas on Thursday, leading the aerospace company to declare the vessel a "loss" in the seventh test flight of the heavy-lift spacecraft.

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.

The seventh fully-stacked SpaceX Starship lifted off on time from Starbase, Texas, but eight-and-a-half minutes into flight, things started to go wrong. While the first-stage Super Heavy booster returned to the launch pad for the second time, SpaceX ultimately lost this Starship.