Watch SpaceX Starship Rocket Burst, Crumple During Test

This hurts to watch.

Poof

A prototype of SpaceX's massive Starship rocket partially burst apart during a ground test on Wednesday at the company's test site in Boca Chica, Texas, The Verge reports. A livestream of the incident shows the massive stainless steel cylinder burst into a thick white cloud, showing large creases and dents at the top afterwards.

SpaceX is playing down the failure.

"The purpose of today’s test was to pressurize systems to the max, so the outcome was not completely unexpected," a spokesperson for SpaceX told The Verge. "There were no injuries, nor is this a serious setback."

Thanks Mark

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that the company will move on to a newer "MK3" version with a modified design.

"This had some value as a manufacturing pathfinder, but flight design is quite different," he wrote.

The very same 165-foot test vehicle that burst yesterday, dubbed MK1, stood behind Musk as he gave the press an update on the company's planned rocket back in September.

"This thing is going to take off, fly to 65,000 feet — about 20 kilometers — and come back and land in about one to two months," Musk said at the event.

Ambitious Timelines

It's not the first time we've seen SpaceX test vehicles explode during testing. A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, meant to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, exploded during an emergency systems test in April.

If all goes well — and Musk is known for his extremely ambitious timelines — SpaceX will launch the gigantic rocket within "in less than six months," according to Musk.

More on Starship: Elon Musk: I Can Build a Martian City With 1,000 Starships

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