SpaceX’s Starship Explodes During Test at Texas Facility, Fourth Incident This Year
June 19, 2025 – Texas — A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded late Wednesday night during a routine test at the company’s Starbase facility in Texas, marking the fourth major failure of the vehicle in 2025 alone.
According to a statement from SpaceX, the vehicle “experienced a major anomaly” around 11 p.m. local time while positioned on a test stand. The company confirmed that all personnel were safe and that safety protocols had been followed, including the maintenance of a secure perimeter around the site.
Local emergency officials described the event as a “catastrophic failure,” with live stream footage showing the massive rocket engulfed in flames and erupting in a large fireball. No injuries have been reported, and an investigation is underway.
Starship is a critical part of SpaceX’s long-term vision. It is central to NASA’s Artemis program, with plans for the rocket to support future crewed missions to the Moon in 2027 and 2028. It also plays a major role in Elon Musk’s broader ambitions to colonize Mars, with test missions for robotic landers and human transport tentatively scheduled for the late 2020s.
Despite earlier test flight successes, this year has seen three launch attempts end in explosions or mid-air disintegration. The rocket’s enormous size — 120 meters (394 feet) when combined with its Super Heavy booster — poses unique engineering challenges, particularly around reliability and orbital refueling.
Another Starship launch had been expected by the end of June, though it's unclear how Wednesday night’s failure will affect the schedule.
Starship is also intended to help transition the U.S. space program to a post-ISS era, with missions planned for the upcoming private Starlab station. Musk remains optimistic, recently stating that robotic Mars missions using Starship could begin as soon as 2026, with potential crewed landings by 2031.
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