By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program.

The 171-foot-tall (52 meters) spacecraft exploded over the Atlantic Ocean near the Turks and Caicos islands around 8.5 minutes after launch, creating a spectacular sky show witnessed by many people in the area. And a fair few of these folks posted their photos and videos on X, the social media site owned by SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.

An uncrewed vehicle operated by SpaceX exploded during a test flight on Thursday, temporarily disrupting air travel as pieces of it streaked across the sky.SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from a company site in Texas a little after 5:30 p.