SpaceX Starship explodes during Texas test as safety protocols prevent injuries
A SpaceX Starship rocket experienced a catastrophic failure during a routine ground test late Wednesday at the company's Starbase facility in Texas, according to local authorities and SpaceX. Starship 36 exploded shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time (0400 GMT Thursday), but no injuries were reported.
In a Facebook post, Cameron County officials confirmed the incident, while SpaceX stated the rocket was preparing for its tenth flight test when it encountered a 'major anomaly' during the procedure. The company added that all safety protocols were followed and no personnel were harmed.
'A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation,' SpaceX posted on social media. '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.'
Located on the southern Texas coast near the Mexico border, Starbase serves as the headquarters for Elon Musk's space program. The Starship rocket, standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, is the largest and most powerful ever built and is central to Musk's vision of enabling human missions to Mars.
The incident marks another setback for the Starship program. On May 27, a prototype exploded over the Indian Ocean after its Super Heavy booster failed to execute a planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Previous launches also ended in failure, with upper-stage disintegration reported over the Caribbean.
Despite these challenges, SpaceX continues its push to develop reusable heavy-lift rockets capable of supporting deep-space missions and revolutionizing space exploration.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
20 hours ago
- Express Tribune
SpaceX Starship explodes during Texas test as safety protocols prevent injuries
A SpaceX Starship rocket experienced a catastrophic failure during a routine ground test late Wednesday at the company's Starbase facility in Texas, according to local authorities and SpaceX. Starship 36 exploded shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time (0400 GMT Thursday), but no injuries were reported. In a Facebook post, Cameron County officials confirmed the incident, while SpaceX stated the rocket was preparing for its tenth flight test when it encountered a 'major anomaly' during the procedure. The company added that all safety protocols were followed and no personnel were harmed. 'A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation,' SpaceX posted on social media. '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.' Located on the southern Texas coast near the Mexico border, Starbase serves as the headquarters for Elon Musk's space program. The Starship rocket, standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, is the largest and most powerful ever built and is central to Musk's vision of enabling human missions to Mars. The incident marks another setback for the Starship program. On May 27, a prototype exploded over the Indian Ocean after its Super Heavy booster failed to execute a planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Previous launches also ended in failure, with upper-stage disintegration reported over the Caribbean. Despite these challenges, SpaceX continues its push to develop reusable heavy-lift rockets capable of supporting deep-space missions and revolutionizing space exploration.
Express Tribune
21 hours ago
- Express Tribune
SpaceX explosion: Starship 36 explodes on ground in Texas, possible reasons explored
A SpaceX Starship prototype suffered a dramatic explosion late night on June 18 during pre-launch preparations at the company's Starbase facility in South Texas, marking the latest setback in the spacecraft's development programme. The incident involved Ship 36, which was undergoing preparations for a static fire test—a routine trial of rocket engines—when it experienced what SpaceX described as a 'major anomaly' around 11 p.m. Central Time (CT). The explosion occurred at the Massey's Testing Centre, located near Brownsville, just before the engines were set to ignite. Footage from livestreams operated by NASASpaceflight and LabPadre captured flames and plumes of smoke continuing to rise from the site well after the initial blast. Commentary on the NASASpaceflight feed suggested the explosion happened roughly 30 minutes after propellant loading began and before any engine fire sequence had started. SpaceX issued a statement on social media platform X about 90 minutes later, confirming that a safety perimeter had been established before the test and that 'all personnel are safe and accounted for.' The company added, 'There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities.' 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… — SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 19, 2025 The cause of the explosion has yet to be identified. It comes in the wake of multiple recent Starship test failures, including explosions during the seventh, eighth, and ninth flight tests earlier this year. SpaceX stated that teams were 'actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials' and urged the public to avoid the area while emergency operations continued. Starship, a fully reusable rocket system, is central to SpaceX's plans to send cargo and humans to the Moon and Mars. Despite a series of high-profile failures, the company has continued testing aggressively at Starbase as part of its long-term ambitions.
Business Recorder
06-06-2025
- Business Recorder
Musk-Trump breakup puts $22bn of SpaceX contracts at risk, jolting US space program
WASHINGTON: About $22 billion of SpaceX's government contracts are at risk and multiple U.S. space programs could face dramatic changes in the fallout from Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's explosive feud on Thursday. The disagreement, rooted in Musk's criticism of Trump's tax-cut and spending legislation that began last week, quickly spiraled out of control. Trump lashed out at Musk when the president spoke in the Oval Office. Then in a series of X posts, Musk launched barbs at Trump, who threatened to terminate government contracts with Musk's companies. Taking the threat seriously, Musk said he would begin 'decommissioning' SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft used by NASA. Hours later, however, Musk appeared to reverse course. Responding to a follower on X urging him and Trump to 'cool off and take a step back for a couple of days,' Musk wrote: 'Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon.' Still, Musk's mere threat to abruptly pull its Dragon spacecraft out of service marked an unprecedented outburst from one of NASA's leading commercial partners. Under a roughly $5 billion contract, the Dragon capsule has been the agency's only U.S. vessel capable of carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station, making Musk's company a critical element of the U.S. space program. The feud raised questions about how far Trump, an often unpredictable force who has intervened in past procurement efforts, would go to punish Musk, who until last week headed Trump's initiative to downsize the federal government. SpaceX will not decommission Dragon, Musk says If the president prioritized political retaliation and canceled billions of dollars of SpaceX contracts with NASA and the Pentagon, it could slow U.S. space progress. NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens declined to comment on SpaceX, but said: 'We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the president's objectives in space are met.' Musk and Trump's tussle ruptured an extraordinary relationship between a U.S. president and industry titan that had yielded some key favors for SpaceX: a proposed overhaul of NASA's moon program into a Mars program, a planned effort to build a gigantic missile defense shield in space, and the naming of an Air Force leader who favored SpaceX in a contract award. Taking Dragon out of service would likely disrupt the ISS program, which involves dozens of countries under a two-decade-old international agreement. But it was unclear how quickly such a decommissioning would occur. NASA uses Russia's Soyuz spacecraft as a secondary ride for its astronauts to the ISS. Spacex's rise SpaceX rose to dominance long before Musk's foray into Republican politics last year, building formidable market share in the rocket launch and satellite communications industries that could shield it somewhat from Musk's split with Trump, analysts said. 'It fortunately wouldn't be catastrophic, since SpaceX has developed itself into a global powerhouse that dominates most of the space industry, but there's no question that it would result in significant lost revenue and missed contract opportunities,' said Justus Parmar, CEO of SpaceX investor Fortuna Investments. Under Trump in recent months, the U.S. space industry and NASA's workforce of 18,000 have been whipsawed by looming layoffs and proposed budget cuts that would cancel dozens of science programs, while the U.S. space agency remains without a confirmed administrator. Trump's nominee for NASA administrator, Musk ally and billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, appeared to be an early casualty of Musk's rift with the president when the White House abruptly removed him from consideration over the weekend, denying Musk his pick to lead the space agency. Trump on Thursday explained dumping Isaacman by saying he was 'totally Democrat,' in an apparent reference to reports Isaacman had donated to Democrats. Isaacman has donated to some Republican but mostly Democratic candidates for office, according to public records. Musk's quest to send humans to Mars has been a critical element of Trump's space agenda. The effort has threatened to take resources away from NASA's flagship effort to send humans back to the moon. Trump's budget plan sought to cancel Artemis moon missions beyond its third mission, effectively ending the over-budget Space Launch System rocket used for those missions. Trump, Musk feud explodes with threats of cutting contracts, backing impeachment But the Senate Commerce Committee version of Trump's bill released late on Thursday would restore funding for missions four and five, providing at least $1 billion annually for SLS through 2029. Since SpaceX's rockets are a less expensive alternative to SLS, whether the Trump administration opposes the Senate's changes in the coming weeks will give an indication of Musk's remaining political power. SpaceX, founded in 2002, has won $15 billion of contracts from NASA for the company's Falcon 9 rockets and development of SpaceX's Starship, a multipurpose rocket system tapped to land NASA astronauts on the moon this decade. The company has also been awarded billions of dollars to launch a majority of the Pentagon's national security satellites into space while it builds a massive spy satellite constellation in orbit for a U.S. intelligence agency. In addition to not being in U.S. interests, former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said canceling SpaceX's contracts would probably not be legal. But she also added, 'A rogue CEO threatening to decommission spacecraft, putting astronauts' lives at risk, is untenable.'
