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[00:00.38] A SpaceX rocket successfully launched with the company’s Starship spacecraft Thursday, but the two-part system exploded minutes later and crashed into the sea.

[00:15.52] It was the first test flight for SpaceX’s latest Super Heavy rocket, which carries a large space capsule on top, called Starship.

[00:29.07] The capsule is designed to one day carry astronauts and supplies to the moon and possibly Mars.

[00:38.37] No astronauts were on board for the test flight.

[00:42.88] The liftoff happened Thursday morning at a SpaceX launch center in the southern Texas town of Boca Chica.

[00:53.78] SpaceX officials have described the two-part rocket ship – which stands 120 meters high – as the largest and most powerful space vehicle ever built.

[01:07.86] The vehicle is by far more powerful than any rockets built by the American space agency NASA.

[01:17.15] The flight plan had called for the Super Heavy to separate from Starship minutes after the launch.

[01:26.45] But instead, the rocket began to tumble and then exploded four minutes into the flight. The combined vehicle then fell into the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Mexico.

[01:40.52] The spacecraft reached an altitude of nearly 32 kilometers before exploding.

[01:48.22] The Super Heavy rocket is designed to be reusable.

[01:53.54] But for the test flight, no landings of the rocket or spacecraft were planned.

[02:00.71] Images appeared to show that several of the 33 main engines were not firing as the rocket climbed from the launch site.

[02:12.93] There was no immediate comment from SpaceX on any engine failures.

[02:19.30] SpaceX had hoped that, after separating, the spacecraft would continue flying and attempt to circle the world before crashing into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

[02:34.18] Even though the vehicle exploded soon after launching, SpaceX officials on the ground celebrated the fact that the rocket was able to get off the ground.

[02:46.66] The company declared the event a successful test flight.

[02:51.71] John Insprucker is one of the leaders of SpaceX’s engineering team.

[02:59.15] He said during a live webcast of the launch that the test flight would provide a wealth of important data as the company prepares for additional flight tests.

[03:12.43] Elon Musk, the founder and chief executive of SpaceX, said on Twitter the next Starship test launch would be "in a few months."

[03:24.11] He tweeted: "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch…"

[03:34.48] Musk, who bought Twitter last year for $44 billion, also heads electric carmaker Tesla.

[03:44.04] In the weeks leading up to the flight, Musk predicted a 50-50 chance that the spacecraft would reach orbit.

[03:53.86] But he had also said he was “guaranteeing excitement” for the launch.

[04:00.51] SpaceX’s Insprucker told webcast watchers after the launch, “You never know exactly what’s going to happen."

[04:10.06] He then added, “But as we promised, excitement is guaranteed and Starship gave us a rather spectacular end.”