FLORIDA SPACE COAST, FL –  A SpaceX Starship dramatically exploded at midnight Thursday June 19 at the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas during propellent loading started late Wednesday evening, June 18 in advance of a short 6 second static fire test of the 6 Raptor engines that was intended for the upcoming Super Heavy/Starship Test Flight 10. That test flight is now indefinitely delayed

The Starship dubbed Ship 36 suddenly burst into a massive fireball as seen on multiple real time videos from outside photographers, space news websites and residents monitoring the test, sending a massive plume of smoke into the sky and load bursts of explosions.

The catastrophic explosion and massive fire completely destroyed Starhip Ship 36 and also caused extensive destruction to the Starship test stand and infrastructure at the company’s Massey facility, at Starbase, Texas.

Ken Kremer of Space UpClose was interviewed live by Fox 35 Orlando Friday morning June 20 about the SpaceX Starship explosion: for an assessment of the impact and the implications for what it means going forward and about how the explosion could impact Florida plans for the rocket.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/spacex-looking-into-starship-explosion/vi-AA1H69Ww?ocid=socialshare

https://www.fox35orlando.com/video/1661732

https://www.wogx.com/video/1661732

The Starship was being readied for a launch on Test Flight 10 as soon as June 29 in a statement from the FAA

SpaceX later stated that “the potential failure of a pressurized tank known as a COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, containing gaseous nitrogen in Starship’s nosecone area.”

The explosion seemed to start near the cone base on real time videos

SpaceX must do a thorough investigation and fix what’s wrong before rushing headlong and prematurely into the next launch!

This marks the 4^th explosion in a row following 3 inflight failures that ended in the vehicles destruction this year already in Jan, March and May.

Ken was also interviewed by Wesh 2 NBC News Orlando

I witnessed the SpaceX Starship Test Flight 8 explosion while on vacation near Grand Cayman and was also interviewed by several TV networks

Here is my photo of Test Flight 8 explosion

SpaceX issued this statement at 137 AM ET June 19 following the explosion:

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1935572705941880971

“On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. CT, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase. A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for. Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials. 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”

SpaceX issued this updated statement later in the day on June 19

https://www.spacex.com/updates/#starship-static-fire-update

Starship Static Fire Update

“On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. CT, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced an anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase.

After completing a single-engine static fire earlier this week, the vehicle was in the process of loading cryogenic propellant for a six-engine static fire when a sudden energetic event resulted in the complete loss of Starship and damage to the immediate area surrounding the stand. The explosion ignited several fires at the test site which remains clear of personnel and will be assessed once it has been determined to be safe to approach. Individuals should not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.

As is the case before any test, a safety zone was established around the test site and was maintained throughout the operation. There are no reported injuries, and all personnel are safe and accounted for.

There are no hazards to the surrounding communities in the Rio Grande Valley. Previous independent tests conducted on materials inside Starship, including toxicity analyses, confirm they pose no chemical, biological, or toxicological risks. SpaceX is coordinating with local, state, and federal agencies, as appropriate, on matters concerning environmental and safety impacts.

Engineering teams are actively investigating the incident and will follow established procedures to determine root cause. Initial analysis indicates the potential failure of a pressurized tank known as a COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, containing gaseous nitrogen in Starship’s nosecone area, but the full data review is ongoing. There is no commonality between the COPVs used on Starship and SpaceX’s Falcon rockets.

The SpaceX team would like to thank officials and residents in the surrounding Rio Grande Valley communities for their support, particularly first responders who have assisted since shortly after the anomaly took place.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had also posted about the gaseous nitrogen tank as the source of the explosion

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

Starship is vital to NASAs Artemis Moon program since it serves as the Human Landing System to take NASA astronauts to surface of the Moon at the South Pole

It seems virtually impossible to achieve that goal of landing American astronauts on the Moon on the Artemis 3 mission by 2027 – especially in light of this latest catastrophic explosion following three ore this year.

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