An apparent explosion of the Super Heavy booster while testing at the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas, may constitute a significant setback for SpaceX, which is now building its Starship rocket for its first orbital launch.
There was an explosion that was both severe and unexpected around 5:20 p.m. ET, Gizmodo reported. There has been no information yet on what caused the abnormality or whether anyone was wounded. After the explosion, there was a substantial amount of fire in the area of the massive booster rocket. An hour later, flames and smoke could still be seen rising from the launch pad, but the situation at the test site didn't seem to be getting worse.
SpaceX's first orbital Starship SN20 is stacked atop its massive Super Heavy Booster 4 at the company's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022.
Elon Musk Responds After SpaceX Booster 7 Exploded During Ground Test
Booster 7 rocket testing resulted in an explosion when the spaceship showed firing its Raptor engines, as shown in a video captured from NASA Spaceflight's live stream. The SpaceX Starship operations center and current Texas headquarters, Starbase, Boca Chica, is where the rocket tests were conducted.
The Super Heavy Booster concentrates on the first stage launch of the Starship missions and would assist in launching the spacecraft into orbit before it separated and came back to Earth. However, it appears that the accident will force SpaceX to return to its testing facilities before it becomes operational.
It was one of SpaceX's initial tests following approval to move forward with the spacecraft and mission's next steps following a thorough environmental review by the FAA.
SpaceX did not anticipate the rocket explosion as they were testing its capability and various stages to determine whether it would be ready for use right now. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded to a tweet asking the tech billionaire if his event was scheduled by saying that the Booster engine testing is a step toward the Starship mission.
It was unclear, though, whether Musk was referring specifically to the test or whether the magnitude and force of the explosion were anticipated.
"Yes. Booster engine testing," Musk wrote (per Space.com) in a since-deleted tweet as a response to a follower who had asked if the firing was intentional.
"Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage," Musk tweeted after the deleted response to a netizen asking about the incident.
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Here's How The Recent Explosion Affected July Launch
According to Insider, SpaceX has stated that it intends to launch a Starship rocket into orbit on a Super Heavy booster as early as July. However, the business has not yet finished all the tasks required by a recent Federal Aviation Administration review.
The rocket booster will have to successfully complete several tests before it can fly safely, including the one on Monday.
At SpaceX's South Texas facilities, which are used for testing early rocket prototypes, the catastrophic explosion is far from the first. The company's first four Starship prototypes launched from its Texas facility blew up after reaching a height of a few miles. The prototype successfully flew, landed, and cooled down on the fifth try.
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