In pictures: The moment SpaceX's Starship prototype exploded on landing after test launch

SpaceX made its first attempt to launch Starship on Tuesday, but a problem with its Raptor engines forced an automatic abort just one second before liftoff.

SpaceX launches its first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket during a test from their facility in Boca Chica,Texas, U.S.

The Starship launches for a test flight from the company's rocket facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX's prototype starship takes off during a test launch from the company's rocket facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

The test flight had been intended to reach an altitude of 41,000 feet, propelled by three of SpaceX's newly developed Raptor engines for the first time. But the company left unclear whether the rocket had flown that high.

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

SpaceX's Starship prototype exploded while attempting to land on Wednesday after an otherwise successful test launch from the company's rocket facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

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

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 U.S. December 9, 2020.

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

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 U.S.