SpaceX's uncrewed Starship explodes on launch attempt

This test flight was a small step in a grand project. Before Starship can complete its first grand mission or host astronauts, SpaceX has significant technological questions to hash out.

NASA tapped SpaceX's Starship to serve as a lunar lander, ferrying astronauts from a separate spacecraft down to the lunar surface for the Artemis III mission, which is currently scheduled for as early as 2025. Before that mission can take off, however, SpaceX has to prove that Starship can make it to the moon.

The sheer mass of the vehicle will force the company to refuel the spacecraft while it's still in Earth's orbit. More than a dozen launches — carrying nothing but propellant — may be required to give a single Starship lunar lander enough fuel to traverse the 238,900-mile (384,500-kilometer) void between the Earth and the moon.

Before SpaceX can even hash out that process, it'll also need to learn to put Starship into orbit in the first place. Today's test flight only sought to get to near orbital speeds and make a partial lap of the planet.

After the launch and subsequent midair explosion of SpaceX's Starship rocket, Rob Nixon said particles fell from the sky on Thursday.

He was about six miles from the SpaceX launch facility, at the Port Isabel-San Benito Navigation District area in Port Isabel, Texas.

Nixon said the wet particles started falling about four to five minutes after the rocket’s launch and explosion.

He said the particles covered him and his truck.

"When dried, it was more of a dust. It was much finer than our local sand," Nixon said.

SpaceX said its first flight test of Starship put on "quite a show" Thursday as the powerful rocket launched and then exploded midair a few minutes later.

"At 8:33 a.m. CT, Starship successfully lifted off from the orbital launch pad for the first time. The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship. As is standard procedure, the pad and surrounding area was cleared well in advance of the test, and we expect the road and beach near the pad to remain closed until tomorrow," SpaceX said in a statement on its website.

SpaceX said it "learned a tremendous amount" that it will implement into future flights.

The company also thanked its community and the county for supporting the launch.

There have been no injuries or public property damage reported following today's launch and explosion of SpaceX's Starship in Texas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"The FAA will oversee the mishap investigation of the Starship / Super Heavy test mission. A return to flight of the Starship / Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," the administration reported, noting that this is "standard practice for all mishap investigations."

The FAA is responsible for protecting the public during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations.

Today, he watched Starship take off from South Padre Island in Texas.

"This wave of sound just smashed into my body, and I could feel it and I could hear it and I thought: 'Am I really going inside that machine?' It was absolutely wild," Iliya told CNN. "It was just this feeling of joy and energy running through the crowd and through the people."

Iliya added that watching the rocket explode today didn't give him any extra nerves for his future spaceflight. He understood it was an early fight test and he was essentially watching a prototype take flight.

He said members of the Dear Moon crew were invited to get an up-close look at the rocket shortly after the scrubbed launch attempt. The vehicle was still venting.

"We heard this very loud sound. Many of us — I think — we're ready to scramble," he said.

"That's when I realized how alive this machine is and how intense it is and will be when we actually strap ourselves in and leave the planet — which is in itself an absurd thought."

Another future crew member, Yemi Akinyemi Dele, said he has no qualms about going on a future flight.

"I felt like so many things I had to overcome in my life prepared me for being here and being part of this and carry the weight the way it is. ... I think it matters, you know, to other kids around the world and to all the creative people that it is artists who are going to fly around the moon," he said.

"I think today it just gives this kick, you know, to people to just don't be afraid of dreaming big, don't be afraid of doing something that has never been done before, because it's worth it," he added.

But one group of hardcore fans got a bit closer to see the rocket, which took off from a launch pad on the southern coast of Texas on Thursday at 9:28 a.m. ET, but exploded midair a few moments later.

They gathered at a place aptly named Rocket Ranch — which was created for SpaceX aficionados.

And the camping site — which is just 20 minutes from the launch pad near Boca Chica Beach — is frequented by hobbyists who follow every Starship development with fervid enthusiasm.

When CNN visited on Tuesday ahead of the launch, guests were hanging out in the communal on-site cabin, watching a YouTube channel that streams a view of Starship 24/7. Some of them, engineers in their day job, speculated about the valve issue that plagued Monday's launch attempt.

Anthony Gomez, a managing partner at the ranch, was the ringleader of the festivities. He hired caterers, checked in the guests that set up tents on free patches of land and reserved buses that trucked the Rocket Ranch guests to a viewing site called "The Outpost." It lies just 3.8 miles from the launch pad.

The viewing site was so close to the pad that patrons had to sign waivers.

Guests had to arrive by bus on Wednesday evening because the surrounding roads were blocked off ahead of the launch to keep people out of the area. Otherwise, the only way to access "The Outpost" is by a small pontoon boat in the Rio Grande River.

Rocket Ranch guests came from all over the US — states like Colorado and Alabama — and the world, including Canada, France and Germany.

So what was it like to watch Starship launch today?

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that the launch of SpaceX's Starship rocket is "a good first step."

"It looks like they got through the first stage of this big monster rocket. That's a real accomplishment. We'll get a report on what happened to the second stage, but I'm very encouraged that they've gotten along this far," Nelson told CNN.

The most powerful rocket ever built took off from a launch pad in Texas on Thursday morning, but it exploded midair before stage separation.

Starship will eventually need to refuel while in orbit, he explained.

"This is the way SpaceX goes about. They test this stuff. They run it hard. Sometimes it blows up," he said.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted after the uncrewed rocket Starship launched and then exploded midair a few minutes later.

He congratulated the company and said the team "learned a lot" in preparation for its next test launch, which he said will happen in a few months.