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Topline SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded into a massive fireball while it was being prepared for a flight test at its Starbase testing facility in Texas on Wednesday night, marking the latest in a series of explosions that have marred the testing of the rocket company’s most powerful launch vehicle.

FILE PHOTO- SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship exploded during a test on Wednesday night.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved Key Facts The explosion took place around 11 p.m. CDT and was captured on SpaceX’s livestream as the Starship rocket was being prepared for a flight test.

In a statement, the company said it was preparing the Starship for its tenth flight test when it “experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand.”

SpaceX said the safety clear area around the rocket test site was “maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for.”

The company said there are “no hazards to residents in surrounding communities,” but urged locals to “not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.”

The Cameron County Constable Precinct 1 office issued a statement on Facebook saying the explosion occurred during a “routine static fire test” and an investigation was “now underway to determine the cause of the incident.”

A spokesperson for the Brownsville Fire Department told ABC affiliate KRGV-TV that firefighters have been dispatched to the site of the explosion, but the full scale of the incident was unknown to them.

What Do We Know About Previous Starship Explosions? SpaceX was preparing the Starship rocket for its 10th test flight on Wednesday when it exploded. The mega rocket’s most recent three test flights, all of which have taken place in 2025, also ended in failures. The seventh test flight took place in January, during which SpaceX managed to recover its Super Heavy booster but lost communication with the Starship spacecraft. The company announced at he time that the Starship “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn.” SpaceX later said the most likely cause of the failure was “vibrations” that were “several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing.” The company conducted another test flight in March, but this also ended in failure as the Starship vehicle faced another “rapid unscheduled disassembly” during its ascent burn. The explosion created a large debris field, which prompted the FAA to issue a ground stop order at several airports in Florida. The ninth test launch also ended in failure as SpaceX lost contact with the spacecraft before it tumbled into Indian Ocean.

What Has Elon Musk Said About The Starship Explosions? SpaceX’s billionaire founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has not commented on Wednesday’s explosion. However, Musk had described the Starship’s ninth test flight as a “big improvement over last flight” because the spacecraft made it to its “scheduled ship engine cutoff.” He added: “Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review.”

What To Watch For After the ninth launch, Musk had said the launch cadence for Starship’s next three test flights will be “faster, at approximately 1 every 3 to 4 weeks.” It is unclear if Wednesday’s explosion will impact that planned schedule of launches.

Further Reading SpaceX Loses Contact With Starship During Ninth Launch (Forbes)