Authorities in Texas said that one of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starships burst during a routine test, marking the most recent setback to the billionaire's goal of transforming humanity into an interplanetary species.
According to a Facebook post by Cameron County authorities, the Starship 36 experienced a "catastrophic malfunction and detonated" at the Starbase launch complex just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday (0400 GMT Thursday).
The message included a video that showed the megarocket hooked to the launch arm followed by a flash and a tall, flaming explosion.
Without providing further details, SpaceX stated that the rocket "had a serious anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase" while it was getting ready for the tenth flight test.
"All staff are safe and accounted for, and a safety clear area around the site was maintained during the operation," SpaceX also posted on social media.
"While safety operations are ongoing, we ask that people refrain from attempting to approach the area as there are no risks to the residents of the nearby areas."
Authorities in Cameron County said that the Starship explosion happened during a "regular static fire test."
The Starship's Super Heavy rocket would be tied to the ground during a static fire, which is a step in the pre-launch operations, to stop it from taking off during the test firing.
Musk's space project headquarters are located at Starbase, which is close to the Texas-Mexico border.
The centerpiece of Musk's long-term plan to colonize Mars, Starship is the biggest and most potent rocket in the world, standing at 123 meters (403 feet) high.
According to its marketing, the Starship is a completely reusable rocket that can carry up to 150 metric tons of cargo.
In late May, a Starship prototype exploded over the Indian Ocean.
Instead of performing its scheduled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the first-stage Super Heavy rocket exploded after the largest and most potent launch vehicle ever constructed lifted off from the Starbase site on May 27.
The upper stage disintegrated over the Caribbean on the prior two excursions, which also ended badly.
Musk's space goals are unlikely to be significantly impacted by the setbacks.
With its "fail fast, learn fast" philosophy, which has enabled it to dominate commercial spaceflight, SpaceX has been placing bets that it would eventually succeed.
In a bold engineering move that it believes is essential to quick reusability and cost reduction, the business has successfully captured the Super Heavy booster three times in the launch tower's enormous robotic arms.
NASA is depending more and more on SpaceX, which transports humans to and from the ISS in its Dragon spacecraft.
In early May, the Federal Aviation Administration authorized a rise in the number of Starship rocket launches from five to twenty-five each year, claiming that the increased frequency will not have a negative environmental impact.
Conservation organizations protested that the expansion may jeopardize shorebirds and marine turtles, but the ruling dismissed their concerns.
