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.

And then they went really wrong as the monster-sized SpaceX spacecraft exploded and broke apart, raining down in what looked like a colorful meteor shower over the Turks and Caicos islands, which is southeast of Florida.

The Federal Aviation Administration has paused SpaceX's the launch of its Starship rocket as the U.S. agency oversees an investigation by the private company of the breakup after a test launch Thursday.

After the successful booster recovery, SpaceX officials reported losing contact with the spaceship toward the end of the ascend.

Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starship test flight ended in failure as the spacecraft exploded and broke apart, following a suspected fuel leak in the engine firewall.

Elon Musk's SpaceX launched a pair of Falcon 9 rockets loaded with a combined four dozen Starlink communication satellites into space Tuesday morning from both U.S. coasts.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has suspended SpaceX rocket flights following the explosion of the upper stage of the Starship/Super Heavy. An investigation of the rain of space debris that fell to Earth after the explosion is necessary.