During a routine test Wednesday night, a SpaceX Starship rocket exploded over southern Texas, startling nearby residents and scattering debris across the Starbase launch facility.
The SpaceX Starship, the key to Elon Musk’s goal of bringing humans to Mars, has had several setbacks, with its seventh and eighth tests ending in explosions.
Wednesday’s explosion occurred shortly after 11 p.m. at the company’s test site near Boca Chica Beach. The Musk-owned aerospace firm was preparing for the 10th flight test of the Starship upper-stage prototype, Ship 36.
SpaceX detected a “major anomaly” during a static fire test — an essential prelaunch procedure in which the rocket engines are ignited. At the same time, the vehicle remained secure on a stand.
A livestream of the test, broadcast by NASASpaceflight, showed a fireball erupting from the top of the rocket before intense white light overtook the screen.
When the smoke cleared, the towering rocket and its support structure were no longer standing. Fires burned at the site for hours after the incident.
Despite the scale of the blast, SpaceX confirmed that all personnel were safe and that a designated safety perimeter was established before the test.
“Our Starbase team is actively working to secure the test site and surrounding area in collaboration with local officials,” the company said in a statement on X. “There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.”
The Cameron County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office also confirmed that no injuries were reported and that it would investigate the cause of the explosion.
Cleanup operations are underway at the Starbase facility, and SpaceX engineers are expected to begin analyzing the incident to determine what went wrong.
ELON MUSK POSTS DRUG TEST RESULTS ON X
Wednesday’s explosion marked another high-profile setback for the program.
Most recently, in May, a Starship test successfully reached space but ended prematurely after a propellant leak caused the upper stage to lose control and break apart over the Indian Ocean.
