A SpaceX Starship launch vehicle prototype exploded on the test stand itself, late Wednesday night in Texas, during preparations for its tenth test flight. The incident occurred at the Massey’s Testing Center, as the company conducted a static fire test, where the rocket’s engines are ignited while the vehicle remains anchored.
SpaceX confirmed the “major anomaly” in a post on X, stating that “all personnel are safe and accounted for,” and assured “no hazards to residents in surrounding communities.” The company did not immediately provide a cause for the explosion, though an investigation is underway by local authorities and SpaceX engineers. “A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” the post added. “Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials.” Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, commented on the incident with a post, calling it “Just a scratch.”
The immediate prospects for the Starship program are now less clear following the Ship 36 explosion. Earlier guidance from the FAA had set a target date of June 29 for the upcoming tenth test flight. This latest setback forces SpaceX to suspend launch preparations indefinitely as engineers assess the damage and review safety protocols. The FAA had recently increased its limit on Starship launches in Texas from 5 to 25 for the year, indicating the accelerated pace of the program prior to this event.
The explosion of Starship 36 adds to a series of test anomalies experienced by the Starship program throughout the year, which has seen a notable number of test failures for the Starship upper stage, of which the latest explosion is simply the most recent. The seventh test flight, conducted in January, ended with the Starship upper stage experiencing an in-flight anomaly and rapid unscheduled disassembly after approximately eight and a half minutes of flight, with telemetry loss occurring after a fire developed in its aft section. During its March attempt, the Starship upper stage broke apart while ascending. The ninth test flight, launched on May 27, represented a longer flight duration. However, the Starship upper stage experienced a loss of attitude control and was destroyed during reentry over the Indian Ocean. A major objective of this flight, the deployment of dummy Starlink satellites, was not achieved.
It is evident that major technical challenges remain in developing a fully reusable, super-heavy-lift launch system. While progress is evident across test flights (with some flights achieving new milestones before encountering issues), it is obvious that there are aspects of the design, manufacturing, or operational procedures that still require further refinement. Still, SpaceX is not giving up, and despite repeated setbacks, the development of the 171-foot Starship and its 232-foot Super Heavy booster remains central to Elon Musk’s vision of making humanity a multiplanetary species. SpaceX aims to use Starship for lunar missions and ultimately, voyages to Mars, with Musk maintaining a target of sending a Starship to Mars in 2026, giving it a “50/50” chance. The company operates on a “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy, viewing each test, even those ending in explosions, as a critical opportunity to gather data and implement rapid design changes. SpaceX is also developing a larger “Version 3” of Starship. Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the latest explosion.
