SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off on its first test flight and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.

Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. It carried no people or satellites.

SpaceX plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.

A stuck valve scrapped Monday’s try.

Throngs of spectators watched from several miles away from the Boca Chica Beach launch site, which was off-limits.