Support Now From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship tumbled out of control after a test launch in Texas on Tuesday evening, and both the first-stage Super Heavy booster and rocket exploded before the craft’s planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Fuel leaks on the unmanned rocket caused it to spin uncontrollably before its planned re-entry through Earth's atmosphere. SpaceX confirmed that the rocket broke apart during re-entry, which it again euphemistically termed as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” SpaceX said in a statement. “Teams will continue to review data and work towards our next flight test.” The mammoth 400-foot Starship rocket was successfully launched into sub-orbit from its Starbase in Texas at 6.36pm local time, but it was unable to deploy its payload – eight mock Starlink satellites – when the rocket door failed to fully open as the flight went awry about 30 minutes after launch. “We are in a little bit of a spin. We did spring a leak in some of the fuel tank systems inside of Starship,” SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said on the company’s livestream as the flight began to come undone. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement later that the agency was “aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission ... and is actively working with SpaceX on the event.” The FAA said there were “no reports of public injury or damage to public property at this time.” SpaceX Starship launch