This is the spectacular moment a SpaceX Starship rocket broke up over the Bahamas, illuminating the night sky.

The Starship reportedly lost control in space just minutes after launch, leading to an explosion on March 6.

Local media reported that the engines shut down before the spacecraft disintegrated in the sky.

Footage shows bright, fireball-like debris streaked across the dusky skies, resembling a meteor shower, near South Florida and the Bahamas.

Witnesses were left wondering whether the spectacle was the aftermath of a rocket explosion or something else entirely.

The filmer said: 'I asked people if they knew what had happened. It was so cool but also scary and startling at the same time.'

Elon Musk, an entrepreneur and business magnate, founded SpaceX in 2002. The private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company is dedicated to revolutionising space travel and making humanity a multiplanetary species.

SpaceX has achieved numerous milestones, including launching the first privately funded spacecraft to reach orbit, the first to dock with the ISS, and the first to send astronauts into space from American soil since the Space Shuttle programme.