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Elon Musk has issued a three-word response after a SpaceX rocket burst into flames in an insane explosion.
The Starship 36 rocket hit a ‘major anomaly’ during a routine test yesterday (June 18) at the site of Musk’s Starbase in Texas.
This was during a static fire test and, while everything seemed to go smoothly with the initial launch and ascent, things took a turn when the Super Heavy booster failed as the engines reignited for splashdown.
This resulted in the rocket bursting into a huge ball of fire, with black smoke billowing into the sky.
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In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, SpaceX said: “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.
A SpaceX Starship rocket being tested in Texas exploded Wednesday night, after the craft “experienced a major anomaly” while on the test stand preparing for the tenth flight test at the firm's Starbase facility.
— ABC News (@ABC) June 19, 2025
Read more: https://t.co/fy0GmE2aU7 pic.twitter.com/3qnfVNAUnW
“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.”
According to a report by ValleyCentral, residents recalled how the explosion shook windows and rattled dishes.
According to KRGV, firefighters were dispatched that night to help contain the blaze, however, a full assessment of the incident and its cause is yet to be determined.
Now, Musk has responded to the explosion, taking to his own social media platform X to describe the incident as ‘just a scratch’.
When shown images of the various SpaceX test failures, which resulted in the massive destruction of rockets, leaving them in flames and in piles of huge debris, the billionaire simply replied: “Room for improvement.”
Just a scratch
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2025
This isn’t the first setback for Musk as just last month, a SpaceX Starship traveling over the Indian Ocean met a fiery end, but the mogul seems intent on fulfilling his dreams of colonising space.
Speaking just last month, the billionaire said: “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.”
On the SpaceX website, it details: “Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable but by putting hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.”
