Here's a Video of Every Starship Explosion So Far

Despite a challenging road, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is far from giving up on the company's gigantic, fully reusable Starship spacecraft.

SpaceX has some extremely ambitious plans for the vehicle, from returning the first astronauts to the lunar surface to establishing the first permanent presence on Mars.

And as SpaceX inches closer to successfully launching and landing a full-scale prototype, it's worth having a look back at all of the spectacular tests — and failures — that brought us here.

We've got years of total carnage to look back on. So without further ado, here's an homage to all the test vehicles that have given their lives in pursuit of the interplanetary launch platform of Musk's dreams.

2019: StarPopper

The first dramatic failure took place in late 2019, when a pressurization test, dubbed "StarPopper," ended in the massive tank imploding, crumpling like a tin can.

The prototype was meant to fly to an altitude of 12.4 miles, but ended up popping her bulkhead instead, releasing a massive cloud of depressurizing gas.

 

May 2020: First Fireball

SpaceX's fourth prototype, dubbed SN4, erupted in a gigantic fireball during its fifth static firing test in mid-2020. Videos of the violent event show the massive structure violently exploding, releasing a giant smoke cloud of combustible gases.

The massive explosion can be heard echoing across the space company's testing facilities near Boca Chica, Texas.

 

October 2020: Belly Flop Bomb

The company's eighth prototype, dubbed SN8, was meant to be SpaceX's first, full-scale and fully-fledged test launch of the rocket's upper stage.

The prototype used all three of its rocket engines to lift off, reaching an apogee of 7.7 miles. It even flipped itself upright using a "belly flop" maneuver, which is meant to use the Earth's atmosphere as a way to slow itself down, not unlike a space plane.

Its landing, however, proved to be fatal. SN8 blew up in yet another massive fireball after making a harder-than-expected touchdown.

SN8's low "fuel header thank pressure" caused "touchdown velocity to be high," resulting in a "rapid unscheduled disassembly," as Musk explained in a tweet at the time.

 

February 2021: Topspin

The next prototype, dubbed SN9, reached a height of 6.2 miles and successfully spun itself upright.

The launch, however, turned out to be another setback, ending in yet another massive fireball.

 

March 2021: Delayed Reaction

The company's next iteration didn't fare much better. After an eerie minutes-long delay, SN10 exploded spectacularly on the pad after landing. The explosion was so violent, the entire spacecraft was lurched back into the air.

"RIP SN10, honorable discharge," Musk tweeted at the time.

 

March 2021: Fogged Up

Just weeks later, SpaceX's SN11 prototype reached an altitude of over six miles, becoming the third to do so.

The spacecraft launched inside a thick cloud of fog, obscuring the view. However, despite pulling off another belly-flop maneuver, it didn't stick the landing, causing the fog to glow a bright orange.

It was a violent explosion, sending giant pieces of metal and debris raining from the sky.

 

April 2023: First Full Stack

After a lengthy delay of well over a year, SpaceX finally returned to the launch pad to kick off the first test of its Starship, including its Super Heavy booster, a stack that stands over 400 feet tall.

The upper stage reached an apogee of more than 24 miles, but "the vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble," according to the company.

The spacecraft and its booster self-destructed using its flight termination system, causing a gigantic mid-air explosion.

The violent test flight tore a massive hole in the launch pad and sent pieces of debris raining down on protected wildlife.

 

November 2023: Self Destruct

Following a lengthy investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, SpaceX finally followed up its first fully integrated test flight on November 18, 2023.

The spacecraft blasted well past the edge of space, reaching an altitude of 90 miles.

But minutes into the flight, an automated flight termination command was triggered, causing it to explode.

SpaceX claimed the test was a successful demonstration of stage separation.

 

October 2024: Ocean Explosion

Just under four months later, the next Starship-Super Heavy booster stack roared into space, reaching an apogee of 145 miles. The upper stage glided through space, resulting in gorgeous, live-streamed footage. But the vehicle made a hard landing in the ocean.

A follow-up test, the fourth full test flight, resulted in the prototype heating up as it dropped through the atmosphere in June. Footage shows the two spacecraft's aerodynamic fins being shredded to pieces as the plasma started heating up.

The fifth orbital test in October resulted in the upper stage blowing up in a massive explosion after crashing into the ocean.

However, SpaceX celebrated the first successful catch of a Super Heavy booster using its "Mechazilla" tower, which features two "chopsticks" arms — a feat in itself.

 

January 2025: Sky Streaks

SpaceX's sixth flight in November saw the upper stage splash down in the Indian Ocean without incurring any significant damage. The booster, however, had to be diverted to also splash down in the ocean instead of being caught by the Mechazilla tower.

In mid-January, Starship's seventh test flight resulted in the upper stage dramatically exploding over the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos. Footage shows massive streaks of heated-up rocket pieces.

The event was dangerous enough for the FAA to divert all flights in the area to avoid a mid-air collision.

March 2025: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The company's eighth test flight followed a strikingly similar trajectory. Thanks to premature shutdowns of its engines, the spacecraft set off yet another fireworks display over the Caribbean.

"It was an upper stage / ship failure tbh," Musk admitted at the time. "But we learned a good amount in building the new ship design and the flight."

It's a major snag, indicating that the latest version of the spacecraft, dubbed Block 2, is somehow performing worse than its predecessor.

Where the last two botched flights leave the fate of the world's largest rocket ever built remains to be seen.

NASA is still hoping to tap Starship to deliver its astronauts to the lunar surface in a matter of two years. It's a highly ambitious timeline that's looking increasingly unlikely, given the most recent setbacks.

But Musk has taken the latest failure in strides.

"Today was a minor setback," he tweeted earlier this month. "Progress is measured by time. The next ship will be ready in 4 to 6 weeks."

More on Starship: SpaceX Has a Major Problem: New Versions of Starship Are Performing Worse Than Older Ones