2026 is a big year for SpaceX’s Starship, the biggest and most ambitious rocket ever built. The third version of the still-in-development launch vehicle will debut soon (maybe), which will be the version that will go to Mars (maybe) and take astronauts to the surface of the Moon (maybe). And that third version will, appropriately, be rocking the lighter, more powerful third version of the company’s proprietary Raptor engine. 39 of them, in fact. So, all that SpaceX has to do is test the Raptor 3 for safety! You’ll be pleased to learn that the testing is going just swell, except for the fact that it blew itself to smithereens.
It’s a pretty spectacular detonation, caught on camera by NASASpaceflight, despite the fact that this was neither NASA nor in space nor in flight. This is at SpaceX’s company town of Starbase, Texas. As you can see, there’s a large plume of smoke at first, probably just the normal exhaust from the thruster. Then a loud boom, and suddenly, a pillar of flame erupts from the testing pad. It looks devastating, but fortunately, testing sites like this are designed for this eventuality. No one would have been anywhere near the pad, and the pad is made to withstand explosions.
As reported by Gizmodo, it’s not clear what exactly went wrong. That said, part of testing is pushing components way past their limits, so it’s entirely possible that the team predicted a fiery end. Even if they didn’t, they’ll at least understand what the Raptor 3 can and can’t do a little better. However, if this part of the test was expected to be a more ordinary scenario, then SpaceX may have bigger problems.
High-stakes rocket science
There’s a lot riding on Starship V3. For one thing, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated last year that an uncrewed Starship would go to Mars in 2026. For another, this is supposedly the vehicle that Artemis IV astronauts will use to descend to and ascend from the lunar surface. To demonstrate that, SpaceX will have to run a successful demonstration during the Artemis III mission in Earth orbit next year. In addition, in order to get to the Moon and Mars, the big, heavy Starship will need to be refueled, in orbit, something that has never been done before (except by Chinese satellites, maybe). Want to take a wild guess what vehicle will refuel a Starship? Yep: another Starship.
But that’s all just exploration stuff. The real money’s in, well, money, namely SpaceX’s upcoming IPO. Musk is pretty openly trying to make that the biggest one ever. A successful demonstration of a Starship orbital flight would certainly help that along. Remember that prior Starships have only achieved sub-orbital flights, several of which failed in spectacular detonations of their own. On the other hand, a failure just before the IPO could dampen the mood. At the moment, the first flight of a Starship V3 is set for May; the IPO is looking like it will be in June. Don’t be shocked if, suddenly, the flight is delayed. If SpaceX needs an excuse, an exploding engine might just do the trick.
