SpaceX

'Mad' Mike Hughes is believed to possibly be dead after launching himself in the air with a self-made rocket that crash-landed -- and it was captured on camera.

The well-known daredevil and amateur rocket-engineer was doing a rocket launch Saturday in what appears to be near Barstow, CA -- where a reporter says Mike propelled himself into the air with a "self-made steam-powered rocket" and then crash-landed into the ground.

The reporter, Justin Chapman, adds, "Very likely did not survive." He tells TMZ ... Mike is confirmed to be dead there on the ground as well.

In the video, you see a parachute fly out of the rocket, but it doesn't appear anyone is using it. The presumption, for now, is that Mike might've stayed in the rocket as it ascended hundreds of feet into the air.

Mike's rep, Darren Shuster, tells TMZ he was NOT at the launch Saturday, but does believe his longtime client to be deceased based on what he's seen and heard. Darren says Mike was a "one-of-a-kind" adding, "When God made Mike he broke the mold. The man was the real deal and lived to push the edge. He wouldn’t have gone out any other way! RIP"

For Saturday's experiments, Mike is said to have been attempting to get as close to space from Earth as possible -- otherwise known as the Karman line, about 62 miles above Earth's surface -- without the use of advanced tech you might find at NASA or SpaceX.

Much more tragic, Mike seemed pretty stoked for the launch this weekend. He posted a video describing his rocket, where it would go down and what he was aiming to achieve. BTW, he was a big flat-earth believer -- and a doc was even made about him trying to prove it.

We've reached out to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. for comment ... so far, no word back. However, we were told by a dispatcher at the Victor Valley Sheriff's Station that a call for service had been placed Saturday out of Barstow -- the nature of which is unclear.

Mike was 64. RIP

SpaceX had a great day Sunday ... its Crew Dragon spacecraft performed flawlessly in a maneuver critical to manned space flight.

The Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at around 10:30 AM ET.  The point of the unmanned mission ... to test the in-flight abort system. 84 seconds into the flight, when the spacecraft is 60,000 feet above mother Earth, the mission gets scrubbed and the rocket separates from the crew capsule, propelling it at warp speed away from the rocket.

It worked flawlessly, and it was a beautiful sight.

The crew capsule came down in about 10 minutes, parachuting safely to Earth so the folks at SpaceX in Hawthorne can study the data.

Elon Musk is taking his super cool looking Cybertruck out for real-world spins now -- and it made its debut in ... Malibu, of course.

The Tesla honcho rolled into Nobu Saturday night with the Cybertruck and some friends ... and his ride was instantly the biggest celeb in the always celeb-packed joint. Not shockingly, the valets left Cybertruck upfront, and patrons circled around it taking photos all night.

We know what you're thinking ... and NO heavy objects were hurled at the whip's Armor Glass.

Elon eventually came out with actor Ed Norton in tow, who clearly wanted to catch a glimpse of the electric truck -- which won't be available to the public until 2021 or 2022.

As you know, the innovative vehicle made its debut last month with a splashy live streamed event from SpaceX HQ -- but it didn't go as scripted when a demo ended with metal balls shattering the supposedly shatterproof glass.

Like many Hollywood celebs in need of an image makeover -- Cybertruck put on its best dress and headed out for a photo op in the 'Bu.

Elon Musk takes risks -- and his latest cost him dearly.

Tesla's share price plunged by 6% since the close of the market Friday ... and that takes $768 million out of Musk's pocket.

There's little doubt ... the reversal of fortune is tied to Thursday night's unveiling of the Cybertruck at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.  As we reported, Elon -- who billed his latest creation as indestructible -- wowed the crowd at first by taking a sledgehammer to the truck's door with no ensuing damage. But, then ... the chief designer took a metal ball and tossed it at one of the truck's windows and it shattered. He tried again with even less force with the same result.

It's unclear if the failed demonstration is the only reason for the stock plunge. The design of the truck has met with mixed reviews. As you can see and hear ... Eva Longoria's not a fan.

As for Elon ... fear not. Even with the hit his estimated worth is $23.6 billion. What's interesting ... there are 40 people in the world richer than that.

Elon Musk has a smashing success on his hands, and we mean that in the worst way possible because his new Tesla Cybertruck -- billed as shatterproof -- shattered moments after he unveiled it.

We'll say this ... if Elon isn't firing a handful of people right now, he's going soft. On Thursday at SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, CA ... he pulled back the curtain on the Cybertruck, and had a staffer throw a metal ball at the driver side windows to prove the near-indestructibility of its "armor glass."

It couldn't have gone worse as both windows shattered. Elon seemed to vamp to find a silver lining, saying ... "It didn't go through. That's a plus side."

It was reminiscent of some of SpaceX's early Falcon 9 rocket disasters. 'Memba this one? Juuuuust a bit outside of the landing pad, and into the drink!

To be fair, the Falcon 9 works like a charm now, so maybe that bodes well for the Cybertruck's future, but calling its introduction an embarrassment is an enormous understatement.

In fact, it went sooooo badly, it smells of a setup. The question -- was Elon in on it, just to make sure the new Cybertruck unveiling went viral? OR, was Elon set up by prankster employees?

If it's the latter, like we said ... someone's looking into unemployment benefits right now.

Elon Musk -- the brilliant mind behind SpaceX who aims to revolutionize transportation with his Hyperloop -- is all about getting gassy in electric cars. Yes, he's giddily talking about Tesla's fart app.

Elon sat down for a roundtable conversation Thursday at E3 in DTLA and couldn't help but crack a huge grin while talking about the fart app. That's right, the innovative mind behind revolutionary rockets broke down the intricacies behind his flatulence simulator and joked (we hope) that it's his finest work.

The fart app was rolled out in December but this is the first time we've heard Elon talk about it with a glee, not unlike a middle school boy.

Elon Musk's a visionary with HUGE balls ... and that's why a celeb jeweler's giving the billionaire this INSANE diamond Tesla ring.

We're told celeb jeweler Ben Baller designed and made this one-of-a-kind ring worth nearly $40k. It's truly unique ... it's 1 of 1 and custom made for the famous entrepreneur. The ring's a marvel -- it's solid platinum with custom cut diamond baguettes to spell out T-E-S-L-A.

Ben says the Tesla and SpaceX honcho is an inspiration when it comes to pushing the limits. "We salute you for giving almost 50,000 jobs to Americans and putting USA back on the map as a serious contender in the auto industry." He adds, "The last successful US car company startup before Tesla was Chrysler and that was 90 years ago."

As for Elon's new bling -- it features a rare, trillion-cut diamond to emphasize the "T" logo, which is surrounded by round, brilliant white diamonds. Ben says the ring was made in America, just like Elon's wares.

If it sounds like Ben's a superfan ... he is. He drives a Model X P100D.

He's impressed Musk kept pushing forward -- even after his PayPal success -- and "bet it all on Tesla and that takes BIG balls."

Elon Musk made his grand reveal Tuesday night ... what he once envisioned as a "weird little Disney ride in the middle of L.A." became a reality with the unveiling of his underground tunnel.

The billionaire entrepreneur gave a preview of what future traffic in L.A. might look like with this 1.14-mile route built under his SpaceX headquarters. Elon joked back in 2016 he was going to dig tunnels as an alternative to clogged up freeways in L.A. And, here's his teaser:

A modified Model X equipped with special wheels took members of the media through the tunnel after the SUV descended via elevator. Once underground, the tunnel's light turned green and off it went. It only hit 35 MPH and it was bumpy, but still ... it worked.

When Elon's vision is complete, the tunnel will include fully autonomous 16-passenger vehicles rocketing under L.A.'s terra firma at 150 MPH. Elon is starting similar projects in Chicago and D.C. ... with the hopes of one day taking folks from D.C. to New York in only 29 minutes.

Gayle King got a taste for "CBS This Morning" and the initial takeoff had her holding on for dear life ... and cursing on live TV too.

Another milestone for Elon Musk, as the SpaceX CEO launched a satellite into space and successfully landed the rocket booster on solid ground at its California launch site in a visually stunning mission carried out over Los Angeles.

The amazing video delighted onlookers, and surprised those who were unaware of the launch ... nope, not a UFO. Sorry!

You see the Falcon 9 rocket soaring through the sky, leaving behind a beautiful trail of light ... that's when the first-stage booster (on the right) separates and heads back towards Earth as another rocket continues boosting the satellite into space.

It's the first time SpaceX has landed a first-stage booster on the West Coast ... they've previously flown rockets back to land in Florida, and on barges in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket will be reused, saving SpaceX tons of money.

Elon Musk introduced the first guy he'll be shooting off into space to orbit the moon -- and it's a VERY rich entrepreneur from Japan who's worth billions.

The SpaceX CEO held a press conference Monday where he announced Yusaku Maezawa as the first private citizen the company would be sending around the moon in their new BFR spacecraft. The guy has a lot of titles -- art curator, fashionista, founder of a juggernaut online retailer, and now ... casual astronaut!

He's worth a reported $3 billion, but Elon wouldn't disclose how much Yusaku threw down to get up. They say Yusaku should be in zero gravity by 2023, giving him plenty of time to get up to speed on how to survive in space.

Before the presser, Elon shared some photos of what the Big Falcon Rocket would look like. SpaceX touted it as "the most powerful rocket in history, capable of carrying humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

Elon Musk was just as shocked as anybody over the successful launch of his Falcon Heavy rocket ... perhaps even more so, actually, based on his colorful language.

National Geographic captured the SpaceX CEO's reaction Tuesday as his company sent the most powerful U.S. rocket in nearly half a century into space from the Kennedy Space Center. His immediate response ... "Holy flying f***, that thing took off."

Musk and staff essentially freaked out over the launch, and appropriately so. SpaceX sent a rocket into orbit with a Tesla Roadster attached as part of its payload ... a major step forward for colonizing Mars.

Besides ... the launch and touchdown of their booster rockets was quite a sight to behold. So we'll pardon his French on this one ... it was pretty f****** cool.

Keegan-Michael Key is blown away by Elon Musk's latest triumph, but he has the perfect household item the great explorer should hurl into space next.

We got the "Key & Peele" star Tuesday in Bev Hills leaving The Palm and asked if he'd caught the launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket -- which was historic for lots of reasons.

He says he missed it, but sounds pleased with the results. Then he hits our camera guy with a little bit of a hot take -- humans aren't stepping foot onto Mars anytime soon ... despite the Tesla Roadster and the mannequin spaceman zipping toward the red planet.

Keegan thinks the car is cool, but there's something that Martians may find more useful.

He makes a solid point ... that a private citizen with a passion for space exploration might be better suited to tool around the galaxy than NASA.