A fire in the aft section of SpaceX's Starship trigged the apparent explosion that destroyed the spacecraft, the company says.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it will oversee an investigation by Elon Musk's SpaceX into an explosive Starship test flight the previous day that forced airlines to divert dozens of flights to avoid debris.

The incident in which a SpaceX rocket broke up after launch demonstrates the challenges the FAA will face as the number of commercial space flights increases.