A prototype of a SpaceX rocket designed to carry people to Mars has suffered a major failure during tests in Texas.

A video of the incident recorded by a local space enthusiast captured the moment the top of the Starship MK-1 rocket exploded.

SpaceXsaid there were no injuries and that the incident in such an early-stage test of the rocket was not a serious setback.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The purpose of todays test was to pressurise systems to the max, so the outcome was not completely unexpected, a spokesperson for the space firm said.

SpaceX CEO revealed on Twitter that tests would now proceed with the Starship MK-3 prototype design, which is more refined and features a much-improved flight design.

"The striking colour and texture of Africa Illizi, Algeria"

"Every day spent living in space is a great day, but today was particularly special. I got to speak with one of my inspirational heroes Prof Stephen Hawking and his amazing daughter Lucy, who developed the Principia Space Diary to engage children with STEM subjects. As well as talking about dark matter, quantum entanglement, alien life and light beam powered nanocraft we also got to see an amazing pass over the Bahamas and this - my favourite reef smile emoticon"

"Sunrise approaching Russia's frozen north-east coast"

"Hello London! Fancy a run? 🙂 #LondonMarathon"

"50 shades of blue: Bahamas"

"Snow on the mountains next to Yinchuan in China"

"Is it just me or do I see some rocket flames down there? These strange land features are in the Erg Iguidi desert, with its yellow stripes of sand stretching from Algeria to northern Mauritania in the Sahara"

"Sunlight reflecting the stunning colours of this Himalayan lake"

"The real thing: found Everest! Last picture turned out to be third-tallest mountain Kanchengjunga"

"Go #Exomars have a great mission. Earth has more in common with Mars than you might think #AfricaArt"

"Amazingly clear view of Tenerife"

"Some midday winter sun glinting off Greenlands snow-capped peaks"

"Great texture in these huge sand dunes, Saudi Arabia"

"The dam makes this river look like a dragons tail. Oahe Dam north of Pierre, South Dakota in the United States. (North is to the right)"

"Spotted volcano smoking away on Russias far east coast this morning heat has melted snow around top"

"New Zealand looking stunning in the sunshine. Mt Cook centre left with the Grand Plateau to the front and Mt Tasman (3,497m) to the right of the Grand Plateau. Fox Glacier in the middle then Franz Josef curving right. Tasman Lake (largest at front) is at the foot of the Tasman glacier which runs along the front of them. The Hooker Glacier flows out behind Mt Cook coming down to meet the Mueller Glacier on the left of the photo. The Murchison Glacier is at the front of the photo running parallel with the Tasman Glacier"

"Another great pass over Patagonia and a swirling plankton bloom off the coast"

"We dont often get such clear views of Alaska"

"Lights along the Nile stretching into the distance from Cairo"

"The Pacific Ring of Fire clear to see amongst the volcanoes of Kamchatka, Russia"

"Im guessing there was an impressive storm going on under that cumulonimbus cloud"

"Night-time Sahara you can really see how thin the Earths atmosphere is in this picture"

"Tokyo and Japanese coast. This image shows most of Japan with the largest mass of light corresponding to Tokyo. The white lights on the left are fishing boats"

"Morning sun striking active volcanoes in Guatemala"

"The vast waters of the Tapajos river, Amazonia"

"Beautiful glacial river water flowing from this Patagonian ice field Lake Viedma, West is up"

"Minus the #Dragon photobomb this time..."

"Sediment spilling into this mountain lake, Ethiopia"

"We have phases of short nights on the International Space Station sunlight is nearly always visible right now. No prizes for guessing where this is"

"From one mighty ocean to another ships passing through the Panama canal"

"The striking colour and texture of Africa Illizi, Algeria"

"Every day spent living in space is a great day, but today was particularly special. I got to speak with one of my inspirational heroes Prof Stephen Hawking and his amazing daughter Lucy, who developed the Principia Space Diary to engage children with STEM subjects. As well as talking about dark matter, quantum entanglement, alien life and light beam powered nanocraft we also got to see an amazing pass over the Bahamas and this - my favourite reef smile emoticon"

"Sunrise approaching Russia's frozen north-east coast"

"Hello London! Fancy a run? 🙂 #LondonMarathon"

"50 shades of blue: Bahamas"

"Snow on the mountains next to Yinchuan in China"

"Is it just me or do I see some rocket flames down there? These strange land features are in the Erg Iguidi desert, with its yellow stripes of sand stretching from Algeria to northern Mauritania in the Sahara"

"Sunlight reflecting the stunning colours of this Himalayan lake"

"The real thing: found Everest! Last picture turned out to be third-tallest mountain Kanchengjunga"

"Go #Exomars have a great mission. Earth has more in common with Mars than you might think #AfricaArt"

"Amazingly clear view of Tenerife"

"Some midday winter sun glinting off Greenlands snow-capped peaks"

"Great texture in these huge sand dunes, Saudi Arabia"

"The dam makes this river look like a dragons tail. Oahe Dam north of Pierre, South Dakota in the United States. (North is to the right)"

"Spotted volcano smoking away on Russias far east coast this morning heat has melted snow around top"

"New Zealand looking stunning in the sunshine. Mt Cook centre left with the Grand Plateau to the front and Mt Tasman (3,497m) to the right of the Grand Plateau. Fox Glacier in the middle then Franz Josef curving right. Tasman Lake (largest at front) is at the foot of the Tasman glacier which runs along the front of them. The Hooker Glacier flows out behind Mt Cook coming down to meet the Mueller Glacier on the left of the photo. The Murchison Glacier is at the front of the photo running parallel with the Tasman Glacier"

"Another great pass over Patagonia and a swirling plankton bloom off the coast"

"We dont often get such clear views of Alaska"

"Lights along the Nile stretching into the distance from Cairo"

"The Pacific Ring of Fire clear to see amongst the volcanoes of Kamchatka, Russia"

"Im guessing there was an impressive storm going on under that cumulonimbus cloud"

"Night-time Sahara you can really see how thin the Earths atmosphere is in this picture"

"Tokyo and Japanese coast. This image shows most of Japan with the largest mass of light corresponding to Tokyo. The white lights on the left are fishing boats"

"Morning sun striking active volcanoes in Guatemala"

"The vast waters of the Tapajos river, Amazonia"

"Beautiful glacial river water flowing from this Patagonian ice field Lake Viedma, West is up"

"Minus the #Dragon photobomb this time..."

"Sediment spilling into this mountain lake, Ethiopia"

"We have phases of short nights on the International Space Station sunlight is nearly always visible right now. No prizes for guessing where this is"

"From one mighty ocean to another ships passing through the Panama canal"

Mr Musk unveiled the Starship spacecraft in September, claiming it would be ready to carry humans to Mars within a few years.

This is going to sound totally nuts, but I think we want to try to reach orbit in less than six months, he said at the event in Texas.

The billionaire polymath also reiterated his belief that humanity needs to colonise the Moon, Mars and other parts of space in order to ensure its survival.

Elon Musk shared a picture of what the Starship rocket will look like(Elon Musk)

In order to achieve this, the company has ushered in a number of groundbreaking innovations to vastly reduce the cost of space travel, including reusable rockets that can land vertically following take off.

We need to make space travel like air travel. Any other mode of transport is reusable so the critical breakthrough is a rapidly reusable orbital rocket this is the holy grail of space, he said.

"I think we should really do our best to become a multi-planet species, and we should do it now."

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SpaceX rocket that Elon Musk wants to take people to Mars in explodes during tests - The Independent