Elon Musk's 3-Word Response To SpaceX Starship Explosion
Although the SpaceX Dragon and its Falcon 9 rocket have proven to be a reliable spacecraft, and somewhat crucial to the ferrying of American astronauts to and from space, Elon Musk's other, more ambitious spacecraft, Starship, has been less-than-successful. On Wednesday, June 18, the latest Starship suffered an explosion, destroying the craft.
No humans were harmed during the accident, which SpaceX officially referred to as "a major anomaly." This was the 10th planned test flight for the Starship craft, which exploded in what Space.com and others have called a "fireball" at the Starbase site in South Texas. You can see the fiery footage via NASA Space Flight on X below:
ANOMALY! Just before Ship 36 was set to Static Fire, it blew up at SpaceX Masseys!
— NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) June 19, 2025
Live on X and YT:https://t.co/GPjZIX1Zyd pic.twitter.com/CfZhDeSGae
Perhaps somewhat predictably, SpaceX owner Elon Musk's reaction to this incident some relatively nonchalant. Posting on X after the incident, Musk's response on Thursday morning was merely: "Just a scratch."
Just a scratch
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2025
This is the third major setback from the Starship project this year. In January, March, and May, Starship flights have seen setbacks, though this was the first of the Starship flights to have explosive problems while on the launch pad. On Flights 7 and 8, the Starship rocket exploded after liftoff.
The case of the most recent explosion is thought to be the result of what is called a "static fire," a common relaunch test in which the boosters of the rocket are ignited while the craft is still on the ground. It appears that Starship 36 was destroyed by a malfunction during this process.
The next SpaceX launch is the private spaceflight Axiom Space Ax-4 mission, which is set to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon capsule on Sunday, June 22, at roughly 3:42 a.m. ET. That launch will happen at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. As mentioned, historically, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets are much more reliable than anything that has happened with Starship so far.
Related: Trump's Threat To Kill SpaceX Presents One Hidden Safety Concern