Explosion Mystery: SpaceX's Starship Fireball Incident

Late Wednesday night, SpaceX's Starship spacecraft erupted into a massive fireball during a test in Brownsville, Texas, dealing another blow to Elon Musk's ambitious Mars project. The explosion took place around 11 p.m. on a test stand in preparation for its tenth flight, according to SpaceX's statement on the platform X.

The company attributed the incident to a 'major anomaly' related to a composite overwrapped pressure vessel failure in the nitrogen storage unit. Elon Musk noted that if confirmed, this would be an unprecedented issue for this design. He assured that all personnel were safe, although SpaceX has yet to provide further comments.

This incident adds to a number of setbacks the program faced this year. Previous disruptions involved Starship rockets losing control or breaking apart mid-flight, leading to regulatory intervention from the FAA and forced flight path changes for commercial airlines. Despite these challenges, Musk continues to view these as minor roadblocks in achieving interplanetary travel.

(With inputs from agencies.)