The 123-meter (403-foot) rocket took off on its ninth demonstration from Starbase, SpaceX's launch site at the southern tip of Texas.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, had hoped to release a series of simulated satellites after liftoff, but this was canceled because the door did not fully open.
Subsequently, the spacecraft began to spin as it skimmed space and headed for an uncontrolled landing in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced an "unplanned rapid disassembly," or disintegrated. "Teams will continue to review the data and work towards our next test flight," the company said in an online statement. It was the first time one of the Starships, designed to travel to the Moon and Mars, flew with a recycled booster.
There were no plans to catch the booster on the launch pad, unlike previous tests. Contact was lost with the booster at one point, and it fell into the Gulf of Mexico while the spacecraft continued towards the Indian Ocean.
Subsequently, the spacecraft lost control, apparently due to fuel leaks. "It doesn't look good for many of our orbital targets today," said SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot. The company had hoped to test the spacecraft's heat shield during a controlled reentry. Communication ceased before the spacecraft descended, and SpaceX ended its broadcast shortly after.
The two previous Starships never made it past the Caribbean. Earlier demonstrations this year ended shortly after liftoff, dropping debris into the ocean. No injuries or serious damage were reported, although air traffic was disrupted.
The US Federal Aviation Administration authorized another Starship flight last week, expanding the danger area and moving the launch outside peak flight times. NASA needs SpaceX to make significant progress over the next year with Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, to be able to take astronauts back to the Moon.
The lunar launch next year with four astronauts will fly around the Moon, but will not land. That will happen in 2027 and will require a Starship to take two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back.