Luckily they say that no crew and staff were injured and since this was a test on the pad, none of the residents in the nearby neighborhood were in danger. This is the 4th major explosion of either the upper or lower stage rockets in this program. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/us/spacex-rocket-explosion-texas.html
This was certainly a step back. The were not even pressure testing the rocket and had only partially filled the methane tank (though I think the first explosion was from the liquid oxygen tank). It was interesting to watch though. My question is who is allowing SpaceX to test rocket engines after 11 pm? That’s absurd.
Yes, they now own starbase, but this test wasn’t done on that property but at a location closer to Brownsville. They’re doing all their testing within earshot of a couple other towns/cities including South Padre Island and Brownsville. These explosions are heard about 30 miles away and the center of Brownsville was just 12 miles from this one last night.
Wonder what cost tax payers more? These idiots blowing up rockets left and right, or "option 3" of the 988 hotline?
If only we had some department that looked into government efficiency and cut these greedy companies from receiving more money on our taxes. What’s that you say? Who was in charge of that? If only we had another department that looked at overstepping, corruption, and conflict of interests in behalf of the American taxpayer
It helps when the company owns the town. Additionally, Elon has also bought virtually every federal agency that has regulatory authority over SpaceX not to mention virtually all Republican politicians in Texas either directly or indirectly. Inside Elon Musk's SpaceX Company Town, Starbase, Texas Elon Musk steps into Texas legislative races with $1 million donation to business group With $2 Million for G.O.P. Judges, Elon Musk Wades Further Into Texas Politics
Per the article, this was a static engine test ignition that did not require any staff to be near or on-board. Thankfully, no one was injured at the launch site, and because the rockets were never intended to lift off, no one in the nearby cities were injured either.
It's still cheaper to do what SpaceX is doing than what NASA spent per launch. NASA spent on average nearly $3B per launch and usually took several years per launch. SpaceX however has spent less so far in total than one NASA launch. Could anyone imagine 10 years ago that rockets would be able to return to Earth to be reused?
