A dramatic explosion rocked SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, late Wednesday night.
The company’s newest Starship prototype erupted in flames during a “static fire” test.
No injuries were reported.
According to a statement posted by SpaceX on social media, the company confirmed that the rocket, known as Ship 36 and designated for the highly anticipated tenth Starship test flight, suffered a “major anomaly” while still secured on the test stand around 11 p.m. local time.
“A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for. Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials. There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities,” SpaceX continued.
The explosion, captured live on several webcams run by various enthusiasts, including a clear video post by X user ‘ai_for_success’, was shared across social media, eliciting a spectrum of reactions ranging from concern and questions to sheer awe.
Another clip shared by the Cameron County Constable Precinct 1 Office showed thick smoke billowing from the Texas test site as startled observers reacted in real time.
Starship is, or was, SpaceX’s next-generation heavy-lift rocket system — a crucial part of Elon Musk’s plans for long-range space missions, including potential crewed flights to the Moon and Mars. Wednesday’s explosion marks another setback in the Starship development timeline, though SpaceX has consistently emphasized a test-heavy, fail-forward approach.
CEO Elon Musk appeared unfazed by the starships’ explosion, taking to X early Thursday morning to post a brief comment: “Just a scratch.”
Explosive test failures have long been part of the company’s development plan and have eventually produced historic successes like the Falcon 9 reusable rockets, as previously covered by DX.
With its huge modern stainless-steel frame and ability to carry humans and cargo beyond Earth’s orbit, SpaceX and its Starship launches remain a leader of America’s private-sector space exploration, even if the journey includes some fiery missteps.
The missteps themselves, even explosive launches, can offer crucial failure data or other extreme testing limits to Musk and his team. Therefore, they are not a failure but more of a research run.
SpaceX has yet to confirm the extent of the damage to the test site and launchpad or when launch operations will resume as of Thursday afternoon.
