A fire in the aft section of SpaceX's Starship trigged the apparent explosion that destroyed the spacecraft, the company says.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told TechCrunch it had to "briefly" slow and divert a number of aircraft in the airspace near Puerto Rico, where

The FAA grounded SpaceX’s Starship pending an investigation into the failure that caused the rocket to break apart midflight after launching on Thursday.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made light of Starship's fiery end. "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!" he said on X.

The rocket company’s effort to demonstrate payload deployment, land its upper stage and potentially achieve spaceship-to-spaceship fuel transfer this year had an inauspicious start when the Starship system suffered a setback during the Jan. 16 flight. Minutes after launch, the Block 2 upper stage broke up when a fire developed in the aft section.

A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program.

No injuries have been reported from falling debris after SpaceX's Starship exploded in the sky over the Bahamas. However, the FAA has halted further test flights while it investigates.

After SpaceX’s Starship exploded over Turks and Caicos on Thursday, the FAA launched an investigation, demanding answers into the mishap.

The FAA says it is investigating reports that debris from the failed Starship test flight landed, and caused property damage in, the Turks and Caicos.

The FAA says it has grounded the Starship vehicle pending a mishap investigation, and it’s working with SpaceX to assess reports of property damage in Turks and Caicos.