It was 11 p.m. at Massey's facility, at the southwest end of Starbase, near Boca Chica, Texas, when an explosion rang out. A gigantic ball of flame rose into the night sky at SpaceX's Starship preparation site as the American company conducted a "static fire," a mission to verify engine ignition, test control and power systems, and simulate final procedures before a real launch.
The images quickly circulated online in the early morning in Europe, as SpaceX was scheduled to conduct a static fire of its Ship 36, in preparation for the tenth test flight of the Starship megarocket. Following the mid-air explosions in January and March, and the rocket's disappearance into the ocean in May, this is the fourth launcher to disintegrate in 2025. Highly flammable, the methane present in the tanks results in the gigantic flames that can be seen in the multiple videos published.
According to SpaceX, "a safety zone was maintained around the site throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and sound." It should be noted that the site where the explosion occurred is the company's only test center, at least for its Starship program at Starbase.
Through the slow-motion images, some Internet users have tried to understand where the explosion came from. And it seems pretty clear that this one was triggered from the test ship, not from the surrounding infrastructure. Some pointed to the top of the ship, just above the methane tanks. In the images, the first stage of the Starship rocket, often called "Super Heavy," was not present in the test. It was only the upper stage, commonly called "Ship."
A few hours before the static launch, SpaceX specified the launch date of the assembled Starship with its first stage. The tenth Starship flight was scheduled to take place no earlier than June 30. Earlier in May, Elon Musk's company received the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct 25 Starship launches per year. One thing is certain: this explosion of Ship 36 and the damage to the Massey's site is likely to cause a delay to the schedule, much more than previous in-flight explosions.
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