SpaceX is set to launch the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday. The company has an hour window, from 5 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET, for the launch from its private "Starbase" facility near Brownsville,

The third Starship test flight last March saw the spacecraft reach its planned trajectory and fly halfway around the world before succumbing to the scorching heat of atmospheric reentry. In June, the fourth test flight ended with controlled splashdowns of the rocket's Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and of Starship in the Indian Ocean.

A SpaceX Starship prototype failed in space on Thursday minutes after launching from its rocket facilities in Texas, cutting short a test mission that was to include a debut attempt to deploy satellites.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it will oversee an investigation by Elon Musk's SpaceX into an explosive Starship test flight the previous day that forced airlines to divert dozens of flights to avoid debris.

The incident in which a SpaceX rocket broke up after launch demonstrates the challenges the FAA will face as the number of commercial space flights increases.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made light of Starship's fiery end. "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!" he said on X.