1. SpaceX's Starship prototype explodes on landing after test launch

2. The Starship rocket destroyed was a 16-story-tall prototype for a heavy-lift launch vehicle being developed by Elon Musk's private space company to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and Mars. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

3. The self-guided rocket blew up as it touched down on a landing pad following a controlled descent.

4. SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket explodes during a return-landing attempt after it launched from their facility on a test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, December 9, 2020.

5. Musk said in a tweet immediately following the accident that the rocket's "fuel header tank pressure was low" during descent, "causing touchdown velocity to be high.

6. SpaceX launches its first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket during a test. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

7. Test flight of SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket after it launched. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

8. Test flight of SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket after it launched. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

9. SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket during a return-landing attempt after it launched. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

10. SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket during a return-landing attempt. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

11. SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket explodes during a return-landing attempt. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

12. SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket explodes during a return-landing attempt. REUTERS/Gene Blevins