Watch: Musk's SpaceX rocket explodes into giant fireball
Credit: D Wise / @NASASpaceflight
A SpaceX rocket being tested on the company's launchpad has exploded in a massive fireball after a 'major anomaly'.
Elon Musk's latest Starship rocket, the billionaire's 400ft-long spacecraft intended to carry humans to the Moon, suddenly blew up while it was being prepared for an upcoming flight.
The rocket exploded at around 11pm local time – 5am UK time –sending flames high into the sky. The detonation occurred while the Starship rocket was undertaking a 'static fire' test of its engines.
SpaceX said: 'The Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase.'
The company said all staff were safe following the unexpected loss of the craft. A spokesman said: '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.
'There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safeing operations continue.'
Residents near SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, reported seeing a massive fire and hearing an explosion that rattled windows, local media reported.
The destruction of the rocket will hamper Mr Musk's hopes of getting Starship back into the sky within weeks after its last rocket was lost on a test flight. It will also raise questions over his ambitious timelines for SpaceX's rocket programme.
The Starship rocket had been expected to undertake a 10th test mission for SpaceX as the company attempts to refine its reusable rocket design that Mr Musk claims will one day carry humans to Mars.
Nasa is planning to use Starship to return humans to the Moon in 2027 for the first time since Saturn V's last mission to the lunar surface in 1972.
SpaceX's Starship is split into two parts, a 233ft first booster stage and a 171ft second stage, which is intended to carry payloads and crew into space. Mr Musk's company ultimately planning to re-use the entire rocket, with both stages able to return to Earth.
It has already demonstrated the recovery the of its booster rocket, catching it using a vast tower armed with a pair of mechanical 'chopsticks'.
However, so far, all of its tests have ended with the loss of its second stage rocket – in some cases through an explosion and in others with the planned ditching of the rocket into the Indian Ocean.
Some of these mid-flight explosions have sent flaming debris through the skies above the Caribbean, forcing plans to divert or delaying flights.
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