SpaceX Starship explodes again, this time on the ground

Late Wednesday night at about 11PM CT, SpaceX was about to perform a static fire test of Ship 36, ahead of a planned 10th flight test for its Starship, when there was suddenly a massive explosion at the Massey’s Testing Center site. SpaceX says “A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” and that there are no hazards to residents in the area of its recently incorporated town of Starbase, Texas.

The site continues to burn at this time, about two hours after the explosion, with live camera feeds from NASASpaceflight and LabPadre showing the site, as well as the response from local fire departments. According to the people narrating on NASASpaceflight, the explosion occurred before the static fire test was supposed to start, and about 30 minutes or so after the propellant load sequence began. During a static fire test, the vehicle’s rocket engines fire while it remains attached to the launch mount, so Ship 36 was not scheduled to lift off just yet.

The cause of this latest incident and the extent of possible damage to the test site are unknown, but it follows explosions during the seventh, eighth, and ninth Starship flight tests earlier this year.

Fox 26 Houston says that, according to authorities, there have been no injuries reported, while KRGV news said that Brownsville Fire Department crews were responding to the incident.

SpaceX issued this statement about the incident about 90 minutes after the incident in a post on X:

On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. CT, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase. 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, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.

This flight test would’ve continued using SpaceX’s “V2” Starship design, which Elon Musk said in 2023, “holds more propellant, reduces dry mass and improves reliability.” SpaceX is also preparing a new V3 design that, according to Musk, was tracking toward a rate of launching once a week in about 12 months.