A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during a routine test at the company’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in Texas, sending a fireball into the sky and rattling nearby homes.
The explosion occurred around 11 p.m. local time as teams prepared Ship 36 for its tenth flight test. SpaceX confirmed the incident, saying the rocket “experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase” and that a pre-established safety zone ensured no injuries.
“All personnel are safe and accounted for,” the company stated on social media. “Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials.”
Footage from a livestream showed the test stand erupting in flames, lighting up the South Texas coast. Local authorities described the event as a “catastrophic failure,” and an investigation into the cause is underway.
Residents in nearby Port Isabel and Brownsville reported feeling their homes shake.
“It was like thunder, but the ground moved,” said one Boca Chica resident. “Then we saw a huge orange flash out toward the launch pad.”
Starship, standing nearly 400 feet tall with its Super Heavy booster, is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built. Though it has successfully lifted off in prior tests, the system has also suffered multiple mid-flight and post-launch failures since its debut.
Despite the setbacks, Starship remains central to Elon Musk’s long-term vision. The rocket is slated to support NASA’s Artemis III and IV missions to the Moon in the coming years and play a role in launching the commercial Starlab space station.
Musk also envisions Starship as the key to sending cargo, and eventually people, to Mars.
“If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” he said in March.
Another Starship launch is expected before the end of the month, but it is unclear whether that timeline will hold.
