SpaceX Starship Booster Prototype Suddenly Goes Up in Flames

There's a lot we still don't know about the Booster 7 prototype that went up in flames during a routine test today.

The giant structure light up in a big ball of fire and send small pieces of debris flying in a NASA SpaceFlight livestream. The Booster or launch tower may have been damaged during the blast.

A massive pressure wave also managed to shake NASASpaceflight's camera, indicating the explosion was quite energetic.

Chris Bergin of NASA SpaceFlight said "Holy moly". That was not what I was expecting.

Although the NASA SpaceFlight crew were skeptical, Musk seemed to say that the explosion was planned. There is a chance that the explosion happened at 4:20 local Texas time.

Planned Ignition

The fireball was supposed to happen, but other people weren't sure.

"I'm probably wrong, but surely ignition was not planned with those lifts right by the pad and such," NASA SpaceFlight's Michael Baylor said.

The power unit seemed to be in trouble. The smoke was rising from it.

This might delay the first flight of Starship.

Going Orbital

During the company's long-awaited orbital test flight sometime this year, the massive rocket will be used to take the company's prototype into space.

Given the large fireball, there is a chance that the launch will have to be delayed.

The residents of the area are upset that the R&D facility is going to be down graded.