SpaceX’s next Starship just blew up on its test stand in South Texas
Musk wrote that nitrogen COPV seems to have failed below its proof pressure, in conditions that should not have damaged the tank. “If a more in -depth investigation confirms that this is what happened, this is the first time for this design,” added Musk.
Pick up the parts
Earlier Wednesday, a few hours before the end of evening explosion in Starbase, an opinion published by the Federal Aviation Administration showed that SpaceX had set on June 29 as a provisional launch date for the next Starship test flight. It will not happen now, and it is anyone who guess when SpaceX will have another ship ready to fly.
The Massey test site, named after a range of firearms that formerly occupied the property, is located on a turn in the Rio Grande river, a few hundred meters from the Mexican border. The test site is currently the only place where SpaceX can place the vessel vessels thanks to static evidence and fire tests before declaring that the rockets are ready to fly.
The extent of damage to ground equipment at Massey was not immediately clear, so it is too early to say how long the test site will be out of service. For the moment, however, the explosion leaves SpaceX without an installation to support the outdoor tests on the spaceships.
The integrated videos below, from NASASPACEFLIGHT.COM and LABPADE, show several angles of the explosion of starship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71AWKBT3_ts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlsrcjnan7q
Massey’s explosion is a reminder of the rocky path of SpaceX to obtain the vessel so in its development. In 2020 and 2021, SpaceX lost several starship prototypes because of problems during ground and flight tests. The visual of Ship 36 which goes up in flames brings back to these previous explosions, as well as the fiery disappearance of a Falcon 9 rocket on its launching ramp in 2016 in circumstances similar to the incident on Wednesday evening.
SpaceX has now launched nine large-scale starship rockets since April 2023, and before the explosion, the company hoped to launch the 10th test flight later this month. The history of starships have been awful so far this year, the last three Rocket test flights ending prematurely. These setbacks followed a 2024 Triumphant, when SpaceX clearly progressed on each successive suborbital flight of starship, leading to the first grip of the super heavy furniture of the rocket with giant robotic arms on the launch ramp tower.
