New disaster at SpaceX: the starship prototype sprayed in a spectacular explosion
SpaceX’s Ship 36 prototype exploded in a few seconds on its shooting step, during a ground test carried out in Starbase (Texas). A failure occurred even before the engines are switched on. © SpaceX
Almost everything was ready. This Tuesday, June 18, in Starbase (Texas), SpaceX was preparing to make a “static fire”: a testing of starship engines, without takeoff. A must before flight No. 10, highly anticipated. The Ship 36 prototype, fresh out of the hangars and having already passed a first battery of tests, was on the table. Filling of tanks, liquid methane, cryogenic oxygen … Routine. Until everything has left in flames.
Starship explodes on the ground: SpaceX loses its Ship 36 prototype in a gigantic fireball
Standing but fully supplied, the Ship 36 was preparing to test its Raptor engines when the anomaly sparked a devastating explosion. © SpaceX
The sequence, broadcast live as often at SpaceX, is unambiguous. A first overpressure occurs at the methane tank. A few seconds later, it was the oxygen tank that gives way, causing an explosion of impressive violence. No fire on fire, pieces of scattered rocket, end of game for Ship 36 …
Fortunately, no one injured is to be disappointed. The safety perimeter had been properly established and the staff evacuated. But this incident is anything but anecdotal. This is the fourth major loss of starship in six months. After The flight Starship 7,, Flight 8 And The 9th, which had also turned to the crash This explosion on the ground gives a serious pressure on the planning and the technical credibility of the project.
Why an explosion before ignition? This is what worries. The probable cause, according to the observers, is a failure of the pressurization system or a rupture at the level of a weld, causing a fatal overpressure. The Raptor engines, they did not even have time to come into play. It is therefore not a propulsion failure, but a structural fragility.
Ship 36 had to play a pivotal role in the preparation of the 10ᵉ shot supposed to demonstrate the viability of starship to deliver freight – and one day, astronauts – on the moon. For NASA, which counts on this rocket for the Mission Artemis III from 2026the deadline becomes more and more uncertain.
At SpaceX, it will be said that each failure is a lesson. It’s true. But this one, violent, unforeseen and expensive, could well impose a longer break than expected. And remember that if Starship dreams of March, he still struggles to survive on earth.
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