The prototype of SpaceX’s new heavy lift rocket, Startship exploded during ground tests in south Texas on Friday.
Elon Musk space company showed aggressive schedule for the launch.
This test explosion is unrelated to SpaceX’s launch of two NASA astronauts from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre.
The prototype made an explosive fireball at SpaceX’s Boca Chica test site on Friday. There was no immediate indication of injuries.
Starship is a rocket towering 394 feet in height, is designed to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo to the moon and Mars. It is the space company’s planned next-generation fully reusable launch vehicle, the center of Musk’s ambitions to make human space travel affordable.
The south Texas testing facility sits beside a small neighborhood. SpaceX want to buy this region but some residents have pushed back on the company’s offers and have accused Musk’s company for unrealistically low property appraisals.
SpaceX was among the three companies getting a whopping $1 billion by NASA last month to develop rocket systems capable of ferrying cargo and humans to the moon. SpaceX proposed Starship for the award.