Starship SN4, the latest in a series of prototypes for SpaceX’s super-rocket, exploded in a huge fireball today just after a static-fire test at the company’s South Texas facility.
- Four other prototypes have been built and tested at the Boca Chica site over the course of the past six months. Starship Mk1 blew its top in November, Starship SN1 collapsed during a pressurization test in February, a stripped-down SN2 was used in a cryogenic pressure test in March, and SN3 was destroyed during a tanking test in April.
- If static-fire tests of SN4’s methane-fueled Raptor engine had been successful, the silo-sized prototype might have gone on to perform rocket-powered test hops, similar to those conducted by a smaller “Starhopper” prototype last year. Just this week, the Federal Aviation Administration authorized SpaceX to conduct suborbital Starship launches at Boca Chica.
- Although SN4 and a significant part of its test stand have been wiped out, SpaceX is already working on Starship SN5, SN6 and SN7. The company is aiming to have Starship ready to take on flights to the moon and Mars by the mid-2020s.