SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy booster was spotted in the sky after a "rapid, unplanned disassembly" and part of the device was successfully returned to Chopsticks for a second time.

The vehicle lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas. According to Space News, the booster separated and returned to Starbase about 2 minutes and 45 seconds after liftoff.

SpaceX said the spacecraft's six engines appeared to have shut down one by one, and contact was lost just 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.

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"Starship experienced rapid and unexpected disintegration during the ascent burn," SpaceX said in a statement. "The team will continue to review data from today's flight test to better understand the root cause. Through tests like this, success comes from "Thanks to what we learned, today's flight will help us improve the reliability of our starship."

This is the seventh test flight of this powerful rocket.

The spacecraft was supposed to fly from Texas across the Gulf of Mexico on a near-around-the-world flight, similar to previous test flights. It houses 10 dummy satellites for practicing releasing them. This is the first flight of this new upgraded spacecraft.

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"It's great to see the booster go down, but we're obviously frustrated with the ship," SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Fox News Digital it is evaluating the action.

"The FAA is aware that an unusual situation occurred during the January 16 launch of the SpaceX Starship Flight 7 mission from Boca Chica, Texas," the agency said. "The FAA briefly slowed the aircraft and changed course near the area where the spacecraft debris fell. Normal operations have resumed."

The last data received from the spacecraft showed an altitude of 90 miles and a speed of 13,245 mph.

The 400-foot rocket blasted off late in the afternoon from Boca Chica, near the Mexican border. Elon Musk has said he plans to launch a real Starlink on a Starship, then move it to other satellites and eventually launch astronauts.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX and pointed out that "space flight is not easy."

"This is anything but routine," he wrote on X. "That's why these tests are so important - each one brings us closer to the path to the Moon and Mars."

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Video footage of debris falling from the sky appeared to confuse people on the ground.

"Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!" Musk wrote on X in response to a video posted online.

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In a subsequent post, he said "an improved version of the spacecraft and booster are waiting for launch."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.