SpaceX’s ninth test flight of its towering Starship rocket ended in failure on Wednesday, after the vehicle lost control and disintegrated roughly 30 minutes into its uncrewed mission, US-based media outlets reported.

The rocket, developed by billionaire Elon Musk’s commercial space venture SpaceX, was launched from the company’s test facility in Boca Chica, Texas. According to a report by Reuters, the spacecraft suffered a fuel leak while in orbit, causing it to spin uncontrollably before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and breaking apart prematurely.

In a statement posted on social media, SpaceX confirmed the vehicle experienced a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” a term the company uses to describe unplanned break-ups or explosions during flight.

“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn,” SpaceX said. “Today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as we seek to make life multiplanetary.”

Prior to losing control, the 123-metre-tall rocket had surpassed the altitude reached in previous tests, marking some progress in the company’s long-term plans to develop Starship into a reusable vehicle capable of transporting cargo and humans to the Moon and Mars.

This was the ninth integrated flight of Starship atop its Super Heavy booster. Of the previous eight launches, four ended in destruction. The most recent failure occurred on March 6, when the rocket exploded shortly after liftoff.

SpaceX’s high-risk, high-reward testing strategy — which it characterises as “fail fast, learn fast” — is part of Musk’s ambitious roadmap to eventually colonise Mars. However, the frequent test failures have led to concerns about environmental and public safety, particularly as debris has been reported across the southern United States and parts of the Caribbean in multiple instances.

On Wednesday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that it had diverted commercial flights and briefly suspended departures at four major airports in Florida, including Miami International Airport, following reports that debris from the failed launch was falling in the area.

The FAA had expanded the airspace closure zone for the latest flight, nearly doubling it to 1,600 nautical miles (2,963 km) east of the Texas launch site. The agency coordinated with several international aviation authorities, including those in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas, and the British-controlled Turks and Caicos Islands.

Despite the risks, the FAA recently approved an increase in SpaceX’s annual launch allowance from five to 25, concluding that the increased frequency would not pose a significant environmental threat. The decision was made despite objections from conservation groups.

Meanwhile, SpaceX’s growing entanglement with the US federal government has raised questions over potential conflicts of interest. In March, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a formal ethics complaint, urging an investigation into whether the FAA’s dealings with Musk’s Starlink communications company violated conflict-of-interest regulations.

Elon Musk — who has played an increasingly visible role in US politics, particularly in support of former President Donald Trump — has maintained that his attention is focused on eliminating “hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse” in federal programs.

SpaceX is also working closely with NASA on future crewed missions to the Moon, as part of the US space agency’s Artemis programme. If successful, Starship would become the most powerful launch system ever developed, capable of carrying more payload into orbit than any rocket in history.