SpaceX Starship Upper Stage Explodes While Being Prepped for Next Engine Test Firing Written 19 June 2025

CBS News reports a SpaceX Starship upper stage exploded in a spectacular conflagration during ramp-up to an expected engine test firing at the company’s Starbase manufacturing facility on the Texas Gulf Coast late Wednesday, destroying the rocket in what appears to be a major setback for the Super Heavy-Starship vehicle Elon Musk says is critical to the company’s future. “Video from LabPadre, a company that monitors SpaceX activities at Starbase, showed the Starship suddenly exploding in a huge fireball just after 11 p.m. CDT, 10 to 15 minutes before the anticipated engine test firing,” sending flaming debris shooting away into the overnight sky from a churning fireball that engulfed the test stand.
Full Story (CBS News)