SpaceX’s ambitious Starship programme encountered another setback after Starship 36 exploded during a late-night routine test at the company’s Starbase facility in Texas.
Caught on camera: SpaceX Starship 36 static test explosion
The blast, which lit up the sky just after 11pm local time on Wednesday (early Thursday SAST), was captured on camera and shared by Cameron County authorities.
According to local officials, the incident occurred during a “routine static fire test”. A static fire is a type of test where the rocket’s engines are fired while the vehicle remains grounded.
It is used to check whether the engines are functioning properly before a real rocket launch. During this process, the rocket is anchored to the launch pad, meaning it doesn’t lift off but still undergoes intense mechanical and thermal stress.
The Cameron County Facebook page described the event as a “catastrophic failure”. Their video shows the Starship mounted to the launch tower before a sudden fireball erupts, engulfing the structure in flames.
SpaceX confirmed that Starship 36 was preparing for its 10th flight test and “experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase”. While the company did not go into further detail about what caused the failure, they reassured the public that “all personnel are safe and accounted for”.
The company added that “a safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation,” and noted that there were “no hazards to residents in surrounding communities.” Authorities have urged the public to stay away from the area while recovery and safety operations continue.
Starship is a crucial part of SpaceX’s long-term goal to reduce space travel costs and eventually carry humans to Mars. The vehicle consists of two parts: the Super Heavy booster (the first stage) and the Starship itself (the second stage), both designed to be reusable.
There are three versions of the Starship vehicle, with Starship 36 believed to be a newer model, possibly from the ongoing Block 2 or upcoming Block 3 development lines.
SpaceX has launched the Starship vehicle nine times since April 2023, with only four of those flights considered successful.
One of the key innovations in the Starship programme is that the rockets are intended to be caught by mechanical arms attached to the launch tower after flight, allowing them to be refurbished and reused. This system is part of the company’s vision to launch more frequently and more affordably than traditional space programmes.
The Starship system was also selected by NASA to support its Artemis mission, which plans to land astronauts on the Moon. The explosion of Starship 36 does not necessarily derail the programme, but it exposes the experimental and risky nature of building cutting-edge space technology.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has frequently stressed the importance of rapid iteration and testing—even when it leads to failures.
“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough,” he famously stated.
With the explosion of Starship 36, SpaceX will now likely analyse what went wrong, modify the next prototype, and prepare for yet another test, staying on course toward its long-term vision of making humanity multiplanetary.
