• SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft exploded while on the test stand Wednesday night.
  • Starship is integral to NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon.
  • Starship is the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever developed.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft exploded ahead of an engine test on Wednesday night, causing a large fireball that could be seen for miles.

This week’s explosion is another setback for Elon Musk’s company and his aspirations of sending people to Mars. This is the fourth time this year SpaceX has lost a Starship spacecraft, which is also essential for NASA’s future plans.

Here’s a look at what happened Wednesday and what Starship’s future looks like.

What is Starship?

SpaceX’s Starship is the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, per The Washington Post. When fully stacked it stands around 400 feet tall.

It is composed of two stages, a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot spacecraft which would hold the crew and cargo, according to USA Today. The Super Heavy booster has 33 of Space X’s Raptor engines and the spacecraft has six.

Starship is being developed as a fully reusable transportation system. This means the rocket and spacecraft will be able to return to the ground for additional missions. In the coming years Starship is intended to carry cargo and humans to the moon and outside of earth’s orbit.

What happened on Wednesday?

In a post on X late Wednesday night, SpaceX said that the explosion occurred at about 11 p.m. Central time while Starship was on the test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase. The explosion could be seen for miles.

The spacecraft blew up on the test stand prior to being mounted on top of the booster, per USA Today.

Ahead of the engine test, the company had cleared personnel from around the site for safety reasons and the post said “all personnel are safe and accounted for.”

SpaceX is “actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials,” the post continued. “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.”

Following the explosion, Musk posted on X early Thursday saying “Just a scratch,” seemingly joking about the incident that completely destroyed the vehicle.

Why did Starship explode?

SpaceX test-fires the engines on the spacecraft before attaching it to the Super Heavy rocket, per USA Today. In this case, the vehicle had undergone a single-engine fire earlier in the week and the company was preparing to test all six engines when it exploded.

The incident completely destroyed the spacecraft and started multiple fires that caused damage in the area surrounding the test stand. The mishap was referred to by SpaceX as “a sudden energetic event.”

The company is investigating the incident. In a post on X, Musk said that preliminary data suggests that a pressurized tank failed at the top of the rocket.

“If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design,” Musk added.

What are the plans for SpaceX’s Mars mission?

The development of Starship is a crucial part of Musk’s ambitious dream of sending the first humans to Mars, per USA Today.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition, March 9, 2020, in Washington. | Susan Walsh, Associated Press

In a video shared by SpaceX at the end of May, Musk told his employees that he still believes its possible to send the first uncrewed Starship to the planet by the end of 2026. He also envisions that human expeditions to Mars aboard Starship could follow in the years after.

How many times has Starship exploded?

On May 27, SpaceX’s Starship spun out of control halfway through a flight before achieving some of its most important testing goals, per Reuters. That test did make it further than two previous attempts earlier this year that ended in explosions.

During both flight attempts in January and March the Starship exploded within minutes, sending fiery debris across the sky in Caribbean countries and Florida. These explosions disrupted air traffic.

But not all flight attempts have failed. During three tests in 2024 between June and November, the spacecraft flew halfway around the world before reentering the atmosphere and splashing into the Indian Ocean as planned, per USA Today.

What’s next for Starship testing?

While Musk is still confident in dreams for Mars, Starship still has a long way to go in development before it can take humans to the moon or Mars, per USA Today.

Starship does not just need to be able to fly safely without exploding, it also has to be capable of refueling in orbit. This would be an especially difficult maneuver that has never been accomplished before.

The company is planning to increase its number of Starship launches after receiving approval to a conduct 25 flight tests a year. In 2024 just four Starship test missions were conducted, according to USA Today.

After the most recent launch in May, Musk stated that the next three test flights would happen in quicker succession, with a launch taking place every three to four weeks.

Why do Starship and SpaceX matter to NASA?

The Starship is central to NASA’s plans to take astronauts to the moon again, per The Washington Post. The agency has awarded $4 billion worth of contracts to SpaceX for Starship’s development.

Artemis II crew members, from left, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, stand together at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in front of an Orion crew module on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. On Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, NASA said astronauts will have to wait until 2025 before flying to the moon and another few years before landing on it. | Kim Shiflett, NASA via the Associated Press

In order to get astronauts to the moon, the plan is to have Artemis III astronauts aboard the Orion capsule board the Starship while in orbit which would take them to the moon.

Wednesday’s explosion comes as Musk ended his time in Washington leading the Department of Government Efficiency. After President Donald Trump and Musk clashed earlier this month, the president threatened to cancel all federal contracts with Musk’s companies, according to The Washington Post.

In retaliation Musk said he would cut off NASA’s access to SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft which is the agency’s only way to fly its astronauts to the International Space Station. Musk later recanted his threat, but it caused concerns for both NASA and the Pentagon, which also relies on SpaceX for a variety of crucial missions.

Following Musk’s threat, U.S. officials reached out to SpaceX’s competitors urging them to expedite their efforts so the government won’t have to rely just on SpaceX.