The US has grounded SpaceX's giant Starship rocket while an investigation is carried out into why one exploded during its latest test flight. The rocket's upper stage dramatically broke up and disintegrated over the Caribbean after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights to alter course to avoid falling debris.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching ... The failure came a day after Blue Origin, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company, successfully launched its giant New Glenn rocket into orbit ...

Granted, Blue Origin poses an even bigger threat to Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) and their United Launch Alliance (ULA) joint venture, which charges $110 million for Vulcan rocket launches. Airbus ' (OTC: EADSY) Arianespace charges $77 million for an Ariane 62 launch, and is probably worried, too.

Despite the failure, Elon Musk appeared to see the bright side, posting: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"

Flawed rocket launches by SpaceX and Blue Origin still leave both companies in position to dominate the space sector.

Blue Origin scored a major win with its New Glenn rocket launch, but SpaceX still leads the space industry with a Falcon fleet and upcoming Starship.

For the second time, SpaceX successfully captured Starship's rocket booster on mechanical ... Early Thursday, Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) co-founder Jeff ...

SpaceX's Starship exploded mid-air during its seventh ... Blue Origin was founded by Amazon (AMZN) founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos.

The "rapid unscheduled disassembly" of Elon Musk's Starship sparked chaos as some airspace throughout the Caribbean was closed for an hour and a half.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to X on Thursday night to explain what his company believes may have caused part of the Starship rocket to experience a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes ... The failure came a day after Blue Origin, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company, successfully launched its giant New Glenn ...

While Jeff Bezos has spent $14 billion to achieve his first space launch, his billionaire rival has built a thriving business, mostly with other people’s money.