The spacecraft’s engines shut down, and contact soon was lost. SpaceX says it will take time to figure out what went wrong.

The US has grounded SpaceX's giant Starship rocket while an investigation is carried out into why one exploded during its latest test flight. The rocket's upper stage dramatically broke up and disintegrated over the Caribbean after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights to alter course to avoid falling debris.

Commercial airlines had to divert or delay their flights to avoid debris from the SpaceX Starship spacecraft that exploded Thursday during a flight test.

The United States on Friday grounded SpaceX's Starship and ordered Elon Musk's company to investigate why the spaceship spectacularly disintegrated in a fiery cascade over the Caribbean during its latest test mission.