SpaceX's Rocket Launcher Super Heavy Booster 7 Explodes During Test, Elon Musk's Target Could Miss

Starship's rocket booster takes damage. (photo: twitter @spacex)

JAKARTA - A booster rocket being developed by SpaceX, Elon Musk's aerospace company, for the next-generation Starship spacecraft caught fire during a test fire in Texas, Monday, July 11. This is likely a setback for Musk's goal of launching Starship into Earth orbit this year.

"Yeah, actually not great. The team is assessing the damage," Musk said on Twitter after the late-night explosion of the Super Heavy Booster 7 prototype, as seen in a live stream recorded by NASA's Spaceflight website. There was no indication of injury from the explosion.

Must stated on Tuesday, July 12 that the explosion, which engulfed the base of the rocket in a ball of fire and thick smoke and appeared to shake video cameras, occurred during a test engine speed start.

"Going forward, we won't be doing early lap tests with all 33 engines at once," he said on Twitter.

The failure comes in the midst of a days-long static fire test campaign in Boca Chica, Texas, of the booster, which is equipped with 33 Raptor engines for use in an unmanned orbital test flight that SpaceX hopes to launch later this year.

SpaceX's Starship, which will stand at 394 feet (120 meters) tall when mated to a very heavy first-stage booster, is the company's next-generation launch vehicle amid Musk's ambitions to make space travel for humans more affordable and routine.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters for comment on Monday, July 11.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also did not immediately respond when asked whether to investigate the explosion.

In late 2020 and early 2021, SpaceX lost four prototypes of the Starship itself in a series of high-altitude test launches while the attempted return landing ended in explosions. The Starship prototype finally made a safe landing in May 2021.