Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship exploded into an enormous fireball on Wednesday night during a routine test for an upcoming launch, as nearby residents recalled their homes shaking from the blast.
The fiery blowup happened just after 11 p.m. local time as the Starship crew was preparing for the tenth flight test of Ship 36 at the Texas Starbase site near Boca Chica Beach.
Officials reported a “major anomaly” took place as the reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle was stationed on a test stand.
A live stream of the SpaceX facility captured the moment of the explosion.
In the footage, the initial fireball appears to come from the top of the rocket before the screen turned white from the dramatic change in lighting ripping through the otherwise dark night sky.
The gigantic explosion scattered debris around the test site area, as the Starship and test stand were no longer seen in their vertical, upright position.
SpaceX officials confirmed a safety zone had been in place and all staff are accounted for with no reports of any injuries.
“Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials,” the company said on X.
SpaceX reported residents in the nearby communities did not face any hazards due to the explosion.
Residents living near the facility say they felt their explosion from their homes.
“Our whole neighborhood felt it and all the neighbors went outside to see what had happened because it shook all the houses …. my brother-in-law thankfully worked during the day shift,” Brownsville resident Arely Cantu told My San Antonio.
Starbase is about 22 miles east of Brownsville.
Another resident, Juan Martinez, said he heard the “huge boom” as he watched the test from a nearby beach.
“Be safe and contact your family members that work there,” Martinez said in a Facebook post.
The fire continued to burn for two hours after the explosion.
Wednesday night’s explosion is the latest disaster to plague the private space company’s exploration efforts.
During the ninth test flight in May, the Starship blasted off into orbit but burned up as it fell back into the Earth’s atmosphere.
The loss followed a series of back-to-back failures of the seventh and eighth Starships.
On March 6, Starship suffered an explosion 10 minutes into its flight, but its Super Heavy boosters were successfully caught.
Officials reported several engines stopped working just 20 seconds before the end of its ascent burn in during the test flight.
In January, a propellant leak during Starship’s ascent caused the rocket to break apart and explode.
Despite the failures, both missions saw success in guiding the Super heavy boosters back to the Texas launchpad, where they were caught with the so-called “chopsticks” or “Mechazilla” mechanical arms.
Starship is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable, saving SpaceX significantly on cost and resources, which would aid the company in reaching its ultimate goal of pioneering travel to the Moon and Mars.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has not publicly commented on Wednesday night’s explosion.
