Contact was lost with the spacecraft after reaching an altitude of nearly 150 kilometers, after it began spinning out of control. Shortly thereafter, it exploded and burning debris was seen in the sky over Florida.
Unfortunately, this happened last time too, so we've gained some experience, said Space X commentator Dan Huot from the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.
The test flight on Friday Swedish time was intended to test the ability to deploy satellites. In mid-January, a similar flight failed, and the spacecraft also exploded shortly after launch.
However, the landing of the booster rocket was successful both times. After launch, it was steered back to the base and could then, hovering in the air, be caught with enormous mechanical arms.
This was the eighth test flight for the world's largest space rocket. The US space agency NASA has reserved a number of rockets to land astronauts on the moon later this decade.
Musk, who has now also been given a role in President Donald Trump's government, has an explicit goal of eventually using Starship for manned trips to Mars.
