A Starship rocket from Elon Musk’s SpaceX has exploded, leaving flights grounded as fiery debris rained from the sky.

The massive Starship rocket exploded on Thursday, minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida.

Several videos on social media showed debris streaking through the skies near south Florida and the Bahamas. The rocket broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed.

The Starship spacecraft launched successfully on Thursday. Its booster returned to earth in tact but it did not

JOE SKIPPER/REUTERS

It is the eighth Starship to launch and the second straight failure this year for Musk’s Mars rocket programme, coming just over a month after the seventh also ended in an explosion.

The 403ft (123-metre)