Video shows SpaceX Starship explosion at Texas launch site

A SpaceX Starship exploded at a launch site in Texas Wednesday night, bursting into a massive fireball. Video shows the explosion, which SpaceX said occurred as the Starship was preparing for a flight test.

The Starship “experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase,” SpaceX’s launch site in Texas, the company said on X.

“A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” SpaceX said. 

The company said there here are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities and asked that people avoid the area “while safing operations continue.”

Video from LabPadre, the company that monitors SpaceX activities at Starbase, appears to show two major explosions — the first near the rocket’s nose, and the second on the left side of the spacecraft. The Starship was being filled with liquid oxygen and high-energy methane fuel at the time the detonations happened.

Starship is comprised of a spacecraft and a Super Heavy rocket that together are intended to be a reusable system that can carry cargo and crew to the moon and Mars. 

SpaceX has launched nine Super Heavy-Starship test flights over the last 2 years, with the first three ending with explosions or breakups and the next three being partially successful. The next two resulted in explosions and the most recent flight, in May, reached its trajectory but broke up during atmospheric entry after spinning out of control.

Known as Ship 36, SpaceX was planning to launch the Starship around the end of this month on a huge Super Heavy booster, in what would have been the rocket’s tenth test fight.  

William Harwood

contributed to this report.