During a ground test firing in Texas, a booster rocket created by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for its next Starship spacecraft caught fire.
The Super Heavy Booster 7 prototype from the space company malfunctioned during a test on Monday, July 11, as witnessed on a Livestream captured by the website Nasa Spaceflight.
“Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage,” Musk posted on Twitter after the Super Heavy Booster 7 prototype’s explosion, which was captured on a Livestream on the website NASA Spaceflight.
The rocket’s base was completely enveloped by the explosion, which also caused the video camera to tilt. However, there were no obvious signs of injuries right away.
Elon Musk later explained the problem was unique to the engine spin start test on Twitter, saying, “Going forward, we won’t do a spin start test with all 33 engines at once.”
33 Raptor engines were installed on the launcher in preparation for a later this year pilotless orbital test flight that SpaceX planned to launch.
Musk’s plan to put Starship into orbit this year is likely to be hampered by the explosion.