A test of a prototype of a rocket that Elon Musk has dreams of sending people to Mars flew several miles high on Wednesday. But in attempting to land, it hit the ground too fast and exploded.

That was the latest test, partly successful, in the development of next-generation spacecraft built by SpaceX, Mr. Musk’s rocket company.

SpaceX’s live broadcast showed the smoldering remains of the rocket, named Starship, at the company’s test site in southern Texas. “Awesome test,” read text across the screen of the broadcast after the fiery conclusion. “Congratulations, Starship team!”

With the late afternoon sun low on the horizon, the gargantuan stainless steel spacecraft lifted off from a launchpad at 5:45 p.m. After reaching its apogee, it started falling, as planned, tipping over in a controlled glide back to Earth.

Near the ground, it righted itself back to a vertical orientation and fired its three engines to slow down — but not enough. Upon impact, about 6 minutes, 40 seconds after liftoff, it disintegrated in a fireball, leaving a cloud of smoke rising over the test site.

Still, it was an advance in SpaceX’s development efforts. Earlier prototypes disintegrated without ever leaving the ground during tests that simply pumped ultracold liquid propellants into the rocket’s tanks.

SpaceX has become successful in the launch business, and it is now the world’s most valuable privately held company. It’s Falcon 9 rockets have become a dominant workhorse for sending satellites to orbit. It routinely transports cargo to the International Space Station and has lifted NASA astronauts there twice this year, with more trips planned in 2021.

However, many are skeptical when Mr. Musk says the company is just a few years away from sending a Starship to Mars, and he has repeatedly set timelines for SpaceX that proved far too optimistic in how quickly they have come to pass.

Last year, when he provided an update on the development of Starship, he said a high-altitude test would occur within months and orbital flights could occur early this year.

Instead, several catastrophic failures happened because of faulty welding. When the propellant tanks stopped rupturing, one of the prototypes made a short successful flight in September. That earlier Starship model, which resembled a spray paint can with the label removed, lifted itself using a single rocket engine nearly 500 feet before setting down at the Texas test site near the village of Boca Chica.

While SpaceX is a long way from achieving Mr. Musk’s Martian machinations, the piece of his company that he hopes will fund trips to and from the red planet won a victory this week. Since 2019, SpaceX has launched hundreds of satellites to low-earth orbit to build a constellation called Starlink that aims to provide high-speed internet service from space. One of Starlink’s stated goals is to provide broadband access to underserved places.

On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission announced the award of billions of dollars in funding to an array of internet service providers to expand broadband access in such locations, and SpaceX received an award worth $885 million.

About KSRA

The Kavian Scientific Research Association (KSRA) is a non-profit research organization to provide research / educational services in December 2013. The members of the community had formed a virtual group on the Viber social network. The core of the Kavian Scientific Association was formed with these members as founders. These individuals, led by Professor Siavosh Kaviani, decided to launch a scientific / research association with an emphasis on education.

KSRA research association, as a non-profit research firm, is committed to providing research services in the field of knowledge. The main beneficiaries of this association are public or private knowledge-based companies, students, researchers, researchers, professors, universities, and industrial and semi-industrial centers around the world.

Our main services Based on Education for all Spectrum people in the world. We want to make an integration between researches and educations. We believe education is the main right of Human beings. So our services should be concentrated on inclusive education.

The KSRA team partners with local under-served communities around the world to improve the access to and quality of knowledge based on education, amplify and augment learning programs where they exist, and create new opportunities for e-learning where traditional education systems are lacking or non-existent.