Major explosion during preparations for static fire test of Starship prototype
As engineers tonight were preparing for a standard static fire engine test at Boca Chica of the next Starship prototype, expected to fly on the tenth Starship/Superheavy test flight, the spacecraft suddenly exploded.
I have embedded video of the explosion below. The event occurred prior to the actual static fire test, while Starship’s tanks were being filled. The image to the right is a screen capture just as the explosion begins. The white cloud is the initial release from the explosion (not standard venting), with the red dot indicating the location where the event began. It appears very much to have started inside this Starship spacecraft, which SpaceX was preparing for the next test flight.
Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.
Obviously, this is going to delay somewhat that tenth test flight. SpaceX has more Starship prototypes ready to go, but the company must first figure out what went wrong in this case. It also appears there might be some damage to that test stand, which will also have to be rebuilt so that future static fire tests of upcoming Starships can take place.
ANOMALY! Just before Ship 36 was set to Static Fire, it blew up at SpaceX Masseys!
Live on X and YT:https://t.co/GPjZIX1Zyd pic.twitter.com/CfZhDeSGae
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) June 19, 2025
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<As engineers tonight were preparing for a standard static fire engine test at Boca Chica of the next Starship prototype, expected to fly on the tenth Starship/Superheavy test flight, the spacecraft suddenly exploded.
I have embedded video of the explosion below. The event occurred prior to the actual static fire test, while Starship’s tanks were being filled. The image to the right is a screen capture just as the explosion begins. The white cloud is the initial release from the explosion (not standard venting), with the red dot indicating the location where the event began. It appears very much to have started inside this Starship spacecraft, which SpaceX was preparing for the next test flight.
Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.
Obviously, this is going to delay somewhat that tenth test flight. SpaceX has more Starship prototypes ready to go, but the company must first figure out what went wrong in this case. It also appears there might be some damage to that test stand, which will also have to be rebuilt so that future static fire tests of upcoming Starships can take place.
ANOMALY! Just before Ship 36 was set to Static Fire, it blew up at SpaceX Masseys!
Live on X and YT:https://t.co/GPjZIX1Zyd pic.twitter.com/CfZhDeSGae
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) June 19, 2025
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Given the apparent point of origin, I would guess something went badly wrong during loading of propellant into the header tanks in the nose. It really is looking like the Block 2 Starship design is a lemon.
SuperHeavy looks more well behaved.
That from a lot of engines side-by-side?
Maybe adding more engines to Starship could help.
I have this gnawing suspicion that the current Starship engine layout is generating some kind of standing wave.
As Raptors get more compact, perhaps their vibrations cane face himself.
I don’t recall having read about many of these type of events involving SpaceX; the law of averages says they were due.
Official SpaceX statement, posted on X:
“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. 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 safing operations continue.”
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1935572705941880971?t=BsdLGFjpo9FO-x-hX1ZP6w&s=19
Elon, so far, has only posted a meme about it. (Not criticizing, they may simply not know enough yet for him to say anything substantive.)
And about that test stand:
There’s a video up now at the SpaceXLounge subreddit, shot from a boat travelling just off the Massey riverbank on the Rio Grande this morning, looking at that South end of Massey’s. The fires are finally out, thank God …
https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/1lfa7rr/masseys_after_the_rud_of_s36/
What you can see is limited, but….you can see that the test stand is completely toast. Total rebuild is going to be in order.
That fact alone will set back the schedule of Flight 10. Hard to say more than that, though.
This is the SpaceX I know and love. Blowing stuff up.
BTW, happy Juneteenth! The day Republicans finally forced the last Democrat slave owners in Texas to free their slaves.
Scott Manley
Starship 36
https://youtu.be/0C_L-qgHsE0
13:32
I’m going to go full autist– “not a detonation, a deflagration…”
Saw a screen clip of an Elon Musk xwheet (can’t find it on X, where searching is nearly impossible). Preliminary data indicates a nitrogen COPV failed at a pressure level below its rated maximum. Chain reaction followed.
The biggest fallout from this is probably not the loss of Ship 36, but damage to the Massey’s test site. Test stand, tank farm, and probably more will need to be rebuilt.
Yeah, blowing up hardware is a learning experience, but you don’t want it blowing up your infrastructure with it!
Since Musk started supporting President Trump and especially since he joined the DOGE team, I have been worried about sabotage
“I have this gnawing suspicion that the current Starship engine layout is generating some kind of standing wave.
As Raptors get more compact, perhaps their vibrations…”
I have had exactly the same concern. There seems to be some sort of issue on the last 3 flights. There is a great piece of camera work where it shows the flap of starship on the last flight vibrating. It… didn’t look right.
Pogoing was a huge problem early in the space program and led to many rockets failing. But really it was just a vibrational problem. And this being the tallest and largest rocket ever launched, you are in new realms of potential vibrational issues, new frequencies of vibration can have an effect. Previous spacecraft were never long enough to have these issues. Worse, you can test and test on the stand and never replicate it.
Garbled and Jeff Wright: Though your concerns about vibrations and pogoing might be a concern on the previous test flights (though SpaceX has clearly stated it solved that problem after the first Starship orbital failure), it has nothing to do with yesterday’s explosion.
The rocket was sitting on the launchpad, not in flight. Its engines were not firing. All that was happening was it was being fueled.
Moreover, all the recent serious failures have been on Starship, which has only six engines. It is Superheavy that has a plethora of engines, and so far it has performed with remarkable success.