SpaceX Test Causes a Dumpster Fire—LiterallyA 'static fire test' of SpaceX's Starship rocket goes wrong.

ByJonathan Small

Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

First, the good news: SpaceX successfully ignited all six engines on its Starship S24 prototype during a static fire test.

Now the bad. The test caused a super-hot hailstorm of debris to scatter hundreds of feet away from the rocket, causing a brush fire that "began to burn unusually aggressively, quickly growing into walls of flames that sped across the terrain," according tothe website Teslarati.

The fire raged in all directions, eventually finding its way to, you guessed it, a SpaceX dumpster, which burned for hours. Local fire crews were called to Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, to put out the fire. A video of the incident can be found on YouTube.

SpaceX CEOElon Muskhas not commented publicly on the mishap. But he has touted the gigantic new Starship as a vehicle that can transport humans to the moon, Mars, and beyond. It's "a generalized transport mechanism for the greater solar system,"said Musk.

Starship is powered by Raptor engines, a huge first-stage booster called Super Heavy, and a 165-foot-tall upper-stage spacecraft called Starship.

SpaceX is gearing up for a landmark Starship orbital mission later this year.

Wavy Line
Jonathan Small

Entrepreneur Staff

Editor in Chief of Green Entrepreneur

Jonathan Small is editor-in-chief ofGreen Entrepreneur, a vertical from Entrepreneur Media focused on the intersection of sustainability and business. He is also an award-winning journalist, producer, and podcast host of the upcoming True Crime series, Dirty Money, andWrite About Nowpodcasts. Jonathan is the founder ofStrike Fire Productions, a premium podcast production company. He had held editing positions atGlamour,Stuff,Fitness, andTwistMagazines. His stories have appeared inThe New York Times, TV Guide,Cosmo,Details, andGood Housekeeping. Previously, Jonathan served as VP of Content for the GSN (the Game Show Network), where he produced original digital video series.

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