SpaceX’s Starship 36 experienced a “catastrophic failure” and exploded Wednesday night during a “routine” test at SpaceX’s Starbase, which is located in Boca Chica, Texas.
In a Thursday morning statement on X, formerly Twitter, SpaceX explained that the Starship 36 experienced a “major anomaly” at roughly 11 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday as the spacecraft was preparing for its 10th flight test.
Wednesday’s explosion was featured on a Starbase livestream of the spacecraft’s 10th flight test on YouTube. Sharing a video of the explosion in a post on social media, NASA Spaceflight wrote, “ANOMALY! Just before Ship 36 was set to Static Fire, it blew up at SpaceX Masseys!”
In SpaceX’s statement on social media, the company said it maintained a “safety clear area” around the launch site throughout Wednesday’s operation. SpaceX also confirmed that all of the company’s personnel were “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,” SpaceX stated. “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.”
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Local law enforcement officials also addressed the Starship 36 explosion. In a post on Facebook, the Cameron County Constable Precinct 1 wrote, “At approximately 11:01:54 PM, during a routine static fire test at Starbase, Texas, SpaceX’s Starship 36 suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded.”
The Cameron County Constable Precinct 1 noted that as of early Thursday morning, no injuries had been reported and that emergency protocols were quickly implemented following the explosion. The Cameron County Constable Precinct 1 confirmed that an investigation was being launched to determine the cause of Wednesday’s anomaly that led to the explosion.
Commenting on Wednesday’s Space Starship 36 explosion in a Thursday morning post, Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO and the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, tweeted, “Just a scratch.”
