https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/01/spacexs-starship-didnt-self-destruct-immediately-as-planned-during-test-launch/

SpaceX’s recent Starship test flight, the first during which it flew with its Super Heavy orbital booster, was a bit more of a mess than it even appeared when it ended with a large explosion. During a Twitter Space on Saturday, SpaceX founder and Twitter owner Elon Musk shared more details about the launch, which he still characterized as “successful” relative to SpaceX’s aims with the mission.

During the launch, it was obvious things weren’t going exactly to plan when, at the point during the flight when the first stage booster was supposed to separate from the Starship upper stage, the two pieces did not come apart — and instead the entire launch vehicle appeared to start falling back to Earth while spiraling wildly.