"Musk's Starship Stumbles as Bezos' New Glenn Soars to Orbit

The latest test of the massive Starship rocket from SpaceX-which aimed to take both people and cargo to the moon, among other destinations-failed Thursday when the upper stage of the rocket exploded mid-flight. Debris of the rocket fell into the Atlantic Ocean within safety zones, according to SpaceX. It said these tests provide valuable data in the improvement of the reliability of the rocket on future missions: "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn.".

Company's CEO Elon Musk tweeted, "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed", while mentioning that the preliminary cause of the failure was a fuel and oxygen leak. SpaceX later revealed that a fire broke out in the rear section of the vehicle, leading to its destruction.

Meanwhile, competitor Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, also conducted a test flight on the same day. Its New Glenn rocket reached orbit but failed to land its booster.

Both firms are racing to dominate the space exploration market, while SpaceX intends to use Starship on missions to the Moon and Mars. The company has remained under scrutiny from federal regulators such as the FAA, responsible for rocket launches and investigations of mishaps.

SpaceX promises this failure would give them an opportunity to learn and move closer to a fully reusable rocket system for future space explorations.