Just minutes after the rocket launched, its booster made its planned return to the ground and was caught between two giant mechanical arms. However, as crowds cheered the booster's return, SpaceX confirmed it had lost contact with Starship after a possible in-space failure.

While SpaceX lost the upper stage of its new Starship in a flight test, the futuristic spacecraft presages a spaceflight revolution, says a leading U.S. space scholar.