However, the rocket system's upper stage, which was packed with upgrades for the flight test, did not survive the launch and appeared to break apart over the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. SpaceX confirmed on the live broadcast that the spacecraft's engines started to go out prior to planned engine cut-off and Starship later stopped delivering telemetry data.

SpaceX confirmed the upper stage had undergone "rapid unscheduled disassembly," the company's euphemism for an explosion.

The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at