SpaceX rolled out an upgraded version of its Starship rocket booster in South Texas on Thursday to begin testing, and just a few hours later, something inside it exploded.
Live streamers who watch SpaceX’s Starbase complex closely caught the explosion in the pre-dawn hours Friday, around 4:00 a.m. local time. Other creators in the area have since captured photos that offer a closer look at the damage.
Unlike the more fireball-type explosions SpaceX has dealt with while developing its rockets in the past, this one appears to have blown out an entire side of the lower section of the booster — and left the rest of it standing. It also happened very early in the process. The booster didn’t even have rocket engines installed yet, according to Ars Technica.
The booster was the first major piece of what SpaceX is referring to as Starship version three, or “V3.” Starship V3 is supposed to be larger, more powerful, more reliable, and capable of docking other Starships in orbit around the Earth — a crucial piece of SpaceX’s plan for getting to the Moon and Mars. (The company flew the final V2 design in October.)
SpaceX and Elon Musk have yet to comment on the explosion. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.
It’s not immediately clear what kind of impact the explosion could have on SpaceX’s next steps. But any significant delay to its testing program could put SpaceX’s overall plans at risk.
The company has been aiming at a very busy 2026 for Starship. That includes demonstrating the ability to transfer fuel to Starship from a “tanker” version of the rocket while in orbit. SpaceX needs to prove that capability to NASA before it can proceed with crewed missions to the Moon, which it is reportedly targeting for 2028.
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Acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy has already criticized SpaceX for not moving quickly enough on its Moon-mission progress, and has said he may want to give Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin a chance to take the contract instead.
Blue Origin is picking up the pace on developing its own mega-rocket. Just last week, the company launched its New Glenn rocket for the second time and delivered its first commercial payload for NASA. The company also landed its first New Glenn rocket booster. On Thursday, the company revealed an even larger design for New Glenn that will more directly compete with Starship.
