A SpaceX rocket exploded at the company's Starship test site, as Elon Musk himself confirmed .
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The SpaceX boss said the explosion at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Monday night occurred during a spin-up test of all 33 Raptor.
The explosion of Super Heavy Booster 7, known as B7, was captured by cameras set up by NasaSpaceFlight, which recorded a live stream of the test.
The B7 rocket is being deployed for the first orbital flight of the Starship rocket. The trip , scheduled for later this year, will carry the Starship second stage stacked on top of the booster to deliver it into orbit. After a 90-minute flight, it will then aim to return just off the coast of Hawaii.
This is not the first time a Starship rocket has exploded during testing, but it is the first time the Super Heavy Booster has malfunctioned like this.
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Musk responded on Twitter to a clip of the explosion.
He added further details about how it happened, explaining that a leak of cryogenic fuel vaporized, creating a fuel-air explosion
In order to avoid similar incidents in the future, the SpaceX boss said that areas prone to leaks will be equipped with small spark plugs to gradually burn off excess fuel as it escapes.
«In the future, we will not do a spin start test with all 33 engines at the same time».
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He also revealed that he personally inspected the site of the explosion on Monday night, although it was too dark to fully assess the damage.
“The vehicle base looks fine from the flashlight,” he said. “I was out there about an hour ago. We closed the pad for the night for safety. We’ll know more in the morning.”
