Elon Musk and SpaceX have experienced another setback for the Starship programme, after it experienced a “major anomaly” (aka a giant explosion).
Space X on Wednesday confirmed in a tweet on X (formerly Twitter), that a Starship rocket exploded at the Starbase facility in Texas during routine testing in preparation for a launch flight.
It comes after SpaceX in May had experienced a third failure in a row for the Starship programme when a Starship prototype had successfully launched and “performed a full-duration ascent burn with all 33 of its Raptor engines and separated from Starship’s upper stage in a hot-staging manoeuvrer.”
Starship issues
Despite the successful launch, SpaceX’s hopes of releasing of mock satellites following liftoff failed as “Starship’s payload bay door was unable to open which prevented the deployment of the eight Starlink simulator satellites.”
Approximately 46 minutes into the flight contact with Starship was lost, and the spacecraft tumbled out of control and broke apart, making an uncontrolled landing in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX had tweeted at the time that the Starship had experienced a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
The previous two Starship launches prior to that May test flight had never made it past the Caribbean.
And now almost a month later, another SpaceX Starship has been lost during a fuelling process ahead of a test flight, after a “catastrophic failure” resulted in a shocking explosion.
A short video of the explosion can be found here. No one was injured.
“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,” SpaceX tweeted. “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,” it added. “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.”
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
Just a scratch
Local authorities reportedly said that Starship “suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded,” with no injuries reported at the time of writing and an investigation is now underway.
“Just a scratch” tweeted Elon Musk.
Musk later tweeted “RIP Ship 36.”
Starship is key to SpaceX’s plans to assist NASA plans to resume crewed missions to the Moon and to Elon Musk’s plans to colonize Mars.
Another Starship launch is expected to take place by the end of this month, as part of Musk promise of a faster launch pace moving forward, with a Starship launching every three to four weeks for the next three flights.