Latest news with #explosion
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch: SpaceX Starship Explodes After ‘Major Anomaly'
SpaceX's latest Starship exploded into a giant fireball during an engine test on June 18 at the company's Texas facility. The company blamed a "major anomaly" and said all personnel were safe. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Musk On Starship Blast: 'Just a Scratch'
A dramatic explosion rocked SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, late Wednesday night. The company's newest Starship prototype erupted in flames during a 'static fire' test. No injuries were reported. According to a statement posted by SpaceX on social media, the company confirmed that the rocket, known as Ship 36 and designated for the highly anticipated tenth Starship test flight, suffered a 'major anomaly' while still secured on the test stand around 11 p.m. local time. '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,' SpaceX continued. The explosion, captured live on several webcams run by various enthusiasts, including a clear video post by X user 'ai_for_success', was shared across social media, eliciting a spectrum of reactions ranging from concern and questions to sheer awe. Another clip shared by the Cameron County Constable Precinct 1 Office showed thick smoke billowing from the Texas test site as startled observers reacted in real time. Starship is, or was, SpaceX's next-generation heavy-lift rocket system — a crucial part of Elon Musk's plans for long-range space missions, including potential crewed flights to the Moon and Mars. Wednesday's explosion marks another setback in the Starship development timeline, though SpaceX has consistently emphasized a test-heavy, fail-forward approach. CEO Elon Musk appeared unfazed by the starships' explosion, taking to X early Thursday morning to post a brief comment: 'Just a scratch.' Explosive test failures have long been part of the company's development plan and have eventually produced historic successes like the Falcon 9 reusable rockets, as previously covered by DX. With its huge modern stainless-steel frame and ability to carry humans and cargo beyond Earth's orbit, SpaceX and its Starship launches remain a leader of America's private-sector space exploration, even if the journey includes some fiery missteps. The missteps themselves, even explosive launches, can offer crucial failure data or other extreme testing limits to Musk and his team. Therefore, they are not a failure but more of a research run. SpaceX has yet to confirm the extent of the damage to the test site and launchpad or when launch operations will resume as of Thursday afternoon.
Digital Trends
8 hours ago
- Science
- Digital Trends
SpaceX suggests potential cause of huge Starship explosion
SpaceX has offered an update on the massive explosion which destroyed the Starship spacecraft on a test stand on Wednesday. The dramatic explosion took place at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, during preparations for the Starship rocket's 10th test flight, which was expected to take place in the coming weeks. No one was reported killed or injured in the incident. To be clear, the Starship vehicle comprises the upper-stage Starship spacecraft and the first-stage Super Heavy booster, and it was the upper-stage spacecraft that blew up. In a statement shared on Thursday, SpaceX shared some more details about what happened. 'After completing a single-engine static fire earlier this week, the vehicle was in the process of loading cryogenic propellant for a six-engine static fire when a sudden energetic event resulted in the complete loss of Starship and damage to the immediate area surrounding the stand,' it said. 'The explosion ignited several fires at the test site which remains clear of personnel and will be assessed once it has been determined to be safe to approach.' The spaceflight company said that as for all of its rocket testing, a safety zone had been established around the test site and had been maintained throughout the operation, adding that there had been no reported injuries and all personnel had been accounted for. SpaceX confirmed that engineering teams are now actively investigating the incident and will follow established procedures to determine exactly what happened. It said that its initial analysis 'indicates the potential failure of a pressurized tank known as a COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, containing gaseous nitrogen in Starship's nosecone area,' but stressed that the full data review is ongoing. It added that there's no risk to its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket as it has a different design. While the explosion is clearly a setback for the Elon Musk-led company, its long-term impact remains to be seen. It's worth noting that SpaceX's development strategy embraces rapid iterative testing, a method that accepts failure as part of the process. The company has always said that such setbacks are expected during the development of complex new rockets and that it's committed to learning from each incident. The overall timeline for Starship's operational missions, including voyages to the moon and even Mars, may be affected, but the company is unlikely to abandon its ambitious goals.
CBS News
10 hours ago
- Science
- CBS News
SpaceX Starship upper stage explodes during countdown to engine test firing
The dramatic explosion of a SpaceX Starship upper stage rocket during a test at the company's Starbase facility on the Texas Gulf coast late Wednesday may have been triggered by the rupture of a high-pressure nitrogen tank, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Thursday. The sudden explosion, fueled by ignition of methane propellant, created a huge fireball, billowing clouds of smoke and brilliant arcs of flaming debris shooting out like burning chunks of lava in a volcanic eruption. This image from video shows a SpaceX Starship upper stage exploding at the Starbase facility on the Texas Gulf Coast late Wednesday, June 18, 2025. TheRocketFuture via X / Reuters The blast was reminiscent of the sudden explosion of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during fueling at Cape Canaveral in August 2016 that destroyed an Israeli communications satellite. The Falcon 9 failure was blamed on the rupture of a high-pressure helium tank, known as a carbon overwrap pressure vessel, or COPV. But the company said there is "no commonality" between the Falcon COPVs and those used in the Starship. "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure," Musk said of the latest mishap on his social media platform X. "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." The Starship upper stage exploded during the final stages of a countdown expected to end with a test firing of the rocket's six methane-powered Raptor engines on a test stand at the Starbase manufacturing facility. A single-engine test firing was carried out earlier this week. Such "hotfire" tests are a normal precursor to actual flights, allowing engineers to verify upgrades and overall performance prior to committing the rocket to launch. A successful test Wednesday would have helped pave the way to launch atop a Super Heavy booster around the end of the month for the program's 10th "integrated flight test." But the test did not go well. Video from LabPadre, a company that monitors SpaceX activities at Starbase, showed the Starship suddenly exploding in a huge fireball just after 11 p.m. CDT, 10 to 15 minutes before the anticipated engine test firing. The video showed what appeared to be two major explosions, the first detonation near the nose of the rocket followed a moment later by a second eruption of flame and debris on the left side of the spacecraft. The test stand disappeared in a billowing orange fireball that rose into the overnight sky like a bomb blast. Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes ahead of an engine test at the company's Starbase facility in Texas, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X / Reuters The Starship was being filled with a full load of liquid oxygen and a partial load of high-energy methane fuel when the detonations occurred. Ninety minutes after the initial blast, fires were still burning at the test site, where cryogenic testing and hotfires are typically conducted. "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 said in a statement on X. "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." What impact the explosion might have had on the infrastructure at the test sight was not immediately known. NASA counting on Starship for moon mission SpaceX has launched nine Super Heavy-Starship test flights since April 2023. The first three flights ended with explosions or breakups that destroyed both stages. The fourth, fifth and sixth test flights were mostly successful, but two of the three most recent flights ended with Starship explosions before the spacecraft could reach its planned sub-orbital trajectory. During the third, most recent flight on May 27, the Starship reached its planned trajectory, but then spun out of control and broke up when it fell back into the atmosphere. NASA is counting on the giant rocket to launch a Starship variant to the moon that will carry astronauts to a landing near the lunar south pole in the next two or three years. It will not be easy. To get the Human Landing System — HLS — Starship variant to the moon, SpaceX will need to launch multiple Super Heavy-Starships to Earth orbit in rapid-fire fashion where they will have to autonomously dock, transfer excess propellants to a "depot" Starship, undock, and return to Earth. The HLS then would rendezvous and dock with the depot, reload its tanks and head for the moon to await the arrival of the Artemis astronauts aboard a Lockheed Martin-built Orion crew capsule. SpaceX has not said how many refueling flights might be necessary. But given that both the lander and tanker Starships will use up most of their propellant just getting into orbit, some independent observers estimate as many as 10 to 20 launches will be needed to gas up the lander for the flight to the moon. NASA officials have said the number likely will be in the "high teens." It's not known what might happen if one of those refueling flights suffers a catastrophic failure, but it's difficult to imagine launches would continue without first finding out what went wrong and fixing it. Along with mastering autonomous transfer of thousands of gallons of super-cold liquid oxygen and hydrogen while in space — a task never attempted at this scale — SpaceX will need to develop a reliable system to keep those propellants cold enough in the glare of the sun to minimize the amount that will boil off and be vented out to space. No such technology has yet been tested in the space environment. The need to launch multiple Super Heavy-Starships, the requirement to perfect the autonomous transfer of cryogenic propellants in space and new technology to keep the liquid methane and oxygen from warming and wasting away add up to a complex mission architecture with little margin for error under the current schedule. The latest mishap renews concern in some quarters about SpaceX's ability to get all of that done in just two to three years. But SpaceX has proven skeptics wrong before and NASA continues to express support for the company and the path forward to the Artemis 3 lumar landing mission. "Testing is a critical part of a development program, and we have confidence SpaceX will investigate every aspect of what went wrong to fix the issue," the agency said in a statement. While pointing out that the moon lander planned for its Artemis program is different from the developmental Starship currently being tested, the agency added that "NASA fully supports SpaceX as the company prepares Starship for future missions." "We look forward to the company delivering their Starship Human Landing System for NASA's Artemis 3 mission."
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Mega rocket explodes in Texas night sky, marks series of SpaceX setbacks
In what the company called "a major anomaly" SpaceX's Starship exploded late Wednesday, June 18, shooting a massive fireball and giant debris into the Texas night sky. The explosion is not the first for SpaceX and comes on the heels of a string of set backs for the 400-foot rocket system this year. The company designs, builds and manufactures advanced rockets with the end goal of enabling people to live on other planets. The blast took place about 11 p.m. local time during testing for the mega rocket in Brownsville, a city in Cameron County on the state's southwest Gulf Coast, SpaceX announced on X. Starship, "experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand," the post reads. "Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials." The company, founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, reported no injuries in the blast but asked people to avoid the area as a precaution. "There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities," the post continues. USA TODAY has reached out to SpaceX for more information. The official cause of the blast remained under investigation on June 19, 2025. 'Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure,' Musk said in a post on X, referencing a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (a nitrogen gas storage unit). 'If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design." Just one day earlier, on June 17, Musk's company posted video on X of a "single-engine static fire demonstrating an in-space burn" as Starship prepared for its 10th flight test. Video captured of the incident shows the rocket appeared to experience least two explosions in quick succession. As Iran supreme leader warns America: Trump teases possible US strike The last Starship explosion took place May 27, 2025, on its ninth flight when a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" occurred about an hour after blasting off. The vehicle successfully launched but contact with it was lost about 46 minutes into the flight as it spun out of control about halfway and then came apart. Its debris dropped into the Indian Ocean, SpaceX said. Flight tests also unexpectedly exploded in January and March 2025. During those incidents, vehicles used in the tests met their demise in dramatic explosions that sent cascades of fiery debris across the sky in Florida and across the Caribbean. The upper stage, the vehicle where astronauts and cargo would ride, separated minutes into its flight during the ascent. During three tests between June and November 2024, Starship flew halfway around the world before reentering Earth's atmosphere and landing safely as planned in the Indian Ocean. Bezos vs. Musk? How Amazon's Kuiper satellites look to compete with SpaceX, Starlink Musk's space exploration company is working for Starship to be a fully reusable transportation system, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to earth for additional missions. In the end, the goal is for Starship to carry cargo and humans far into the cosmos. Musk plans for Starship to reach Mars by the end of 2026, with hopes human expeditions aboard the vehicle would follow in the years after the first uncrewed spacecraft reaches the Red Planet. Contributing: Cheryl McCloud and Reuters Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes in setback to Elon Musk's Mars mission
