SpaceX Starship SN11 Rocket Fails to Land Safely After Test Launch: Elon Musk

Starships SN8 and SN9 previously exploded upon landing during their test runs. SN10 achieved an upright landing earlier this month, but then went up in flames about eight minutes after touchdown

SpaceX chief Elon Musk confirmed on Twitter on Tuesday that the latest prototype of the company's Starship rocket series had crashed, after the video feed of its test flight cut out.

The Starship was one in a series of prototypes for the heavy-lift rocket being developed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's private space company to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the Moon and Mars.

The complete Starship rocket, which will stand 394 feet (120 metres) tall with its super-heavy first-stage booster included, is SpaceX's next-generation fully reusable launch vehicle - the center of Musk's ambitions to make human space travel more affordable and routine.

"At least the crater is in the right place!" Musk joked, in acknowledging the fourth failed test of the prototype.

"Something significant happened shortly after the landing burn started. Should know what it was once we can examine the bits later today," he added.

The rocket, SN11, launched from the company's south Texas facility around 1300 GMT and began its ascent to 10 kilometers (six miles), experiencing some video glitches.

It was descending to the surface when the feed was lost once again.

"We lost the clock at T plus five minutes, 49 seconds," said announcer John Insprucker, meaning the amount of time that had passed after lift-off.

"Looks like we've had another exciting test of Starship Number 11," he added.

A first orbital Starship flight is planned for the year's end. Musk, who also heads the electric carmaker Tesla, has said he intends to fly Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa around the moon in the Starship in 2023.

Starships SN8 and SN9 previously exploded upon landing during their test runs. SN10 achieved an upright landing earlier this month, but then went up in flames about eight minutes after touchdown.

SN11 is the 11th prototype of Starship, which SpaceX hopes will one day be able to fly crewed missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

It was the fourth to conduct a test flight attempting to return to the ground for a soft vertical landing.