The Elon Musk-headed SpaceX`s newest Starship exploded ahead of a routine engine test in Texas, leading to a complete loss of the aircraft and damage to the immediate area surrounding the stand, the company has said.

The Starship is a two-stage fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by SpaceX as part of Elon Musk`s dream to send humans to live on Mars. At 403 ft high, Starship is billed as the world`s largest and most powerful rocket.

The incident took place on June 18 as the company was testing a Starship`s upper stage at its site, Starbase situated in South Texas ahead of the megarocket`s 10th flight test.