The rocket exploded when preparing for an engine test at the SpaceX Starbase facility in Texas. SpaceX said all personnel were accounted for and safe.

A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded into a huge fireball while preparing for a routine test on Wednesday.

The rocket, designed to be the most powerful in the world, was preparing for its tenth test flight at the SpaceX Starbase facility at the southern tip of Texas.

Local officials confirmed the explosion took place at a time when the rocket was preparing for a “routine static fire test” of its engines.

That means engineers were set to test the rocket’s engines with the craft still held down on its launch pad. But something went wrong and the rocket exploded.

  • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
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    14 hours ago

    At this point, I’m starting to think that the next evolution of conventional weapons of war will be building a SpaceX launch pad near the intended target.

  • localhost443@discuss.tchncs.de
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    23 hours ago

    Was this the first fully fuelled boom? It looked fucking enormous.

    I remember seeing someone doing the calculations for this happening some time ago and it coming to a shockingly large amount on the usual TNT comparison. Though this is more like a mix between a traditional explosive and a fuel air bomb.

  • MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    This is easy to address:

    Fire the CEO.

    Hire a new CEO that cares about QA, and can create a work environment that attracts and retains top talent.

    • LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.ee
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      19 hours ago

      I use to love space travel as a kid and a young adult. And now, at, 34 years old, I just want my neighbor to be able to have healthcare.

    • Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I think this is also the reason they have so many failures lately. They used to have no problem attracting top talent. I don’t think that’s the case any more.

    • redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      I love knowing Musk has probably created saboteurs in his own companies being a fascist khole. They probably aren’t even selling secrets just breaking shit because fuck Elon.

      • WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca
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        2 days ago

        I truly hope this is the case. If the resistance insists on non-violence then industrial sabotage on a massive scale is a long overdue starting point

        • Crankenstein@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          If destruction of property during a protest makes it “violent”, then destruction of property via sabotage is also “violent”.

          My point being: regardless of what actions we take against the regime, it will always be classified as violence as an excuse to send the state dogs after the dissenters.

          When it comes to actions done in protest of the regime, we are incredibly far behind on the escalation of our actions against it. We need to be protesting like the original union movements that occupied factories, sympathy strikes from related industries, anything and everything we can muster to bring the entire economy to a screeching halt until those who hold the reigns of industry give in to our demands as workers.

          Ideally, we wouldn’t stop there and, instead, continue until we, as a united working class, take back ownership of what is rightfully ours from a parasitic class of a few societal elite and dismantle their system which has reinforced their authority over us.

          But we can cross that bridge when we get there. First we have to get organized and start actually doing something.

          • WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca
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            1 day ago

            You say “we,” I say “you.” The rest of the world has been telling you for decades this was going to happen and we got belligerent jingoism in response. I agree with you- but I’m also not the one who needs convincing.

        • Null User Object@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          There’s even an official manual for those interested in joining the fight.

          https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184

          “Simple Sabotage Field Manual” by United States. Office of Strategic Services is a historical publication written during the early 1940s, amid World War II. This manual acts as a guide for ordinary civilians to conduct simple acts of sabotage against enemy operations without the need for specialized training or equipment. Its main topic revolves around promoting small, accessible forms of resistance that could collectively disrupt the enemy’s war effort. The manual outlines various strategies and techniques for citizens to engage in sabotage that could be executed discreetly and with minimal risk. It provides specific suggestions for targeting transportation, communication, and industrial facilities to create delays and inefficiencies in enemy operations. The manual emphasizes the power of many individuals acting independently to contribute to a larger campaign of disruption, encouraging simple acts such as misplacing tools, delaying communication, or damaging equipment with household items. Overall, the “Simple Sabotage Field Manual” serves as a unique historical artifact that illustrates grassroots resistance efforts and the belief in the collective power of ordinary people during wartime.

    • froh42@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Watching the initial Falcon launches, it gave me so much joy when it flew successfully and I was sad when it exploded.

      Watching the Starrship launches it gives me so much joy when it explodes, and I’ll be so sad if it makes it to space one day.

      • dickalan@lemmy.world
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        22 hours ago

        And to think I used to cry whenever I saw one of his boosters takeoff and land, fuck that man and fuck his rockets

    • cecilkorik@piefed.ca
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      2 days ago

      All the greatest rockets in history have been made by Nazis, Elon is no exception.

  • wjrii@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I know they don’t mind “dramatic iteration” in testing, but aren’t the tests supposed to get better as time goes on?

    This one didn’t dump debris across Caribbean islands though, so I guess there’s that.

  • xenomor@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    And SpaceX is supposed to be the ‘good’ company that Elon runs. NASA needs to cancel the HLS contract and claw back the money already spent.

    • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      NASA should never have started subcontracting/giving work to private companies like SpaceX and Boeing. NASA’s talent takes pride in their work and does things well. Private companies are incentivized to cut corners, which you cannot do with spaceflight.

      It’s been a problem for a while. Those o-rings that failed with the Challenger? Made by a company run by the FLDS child rape cult.

      • Archer@lemmy.world
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        22 hours ago

        Unfortunately that’s incorrect. As much as I hate Elon, ULA would have been billing NASA cost plus for launches instead of the relatively cheap SpaceX ones.

        SpaceX/Starlink is also a good illustration of why you can’t leave that much power in the hands of one man in the private sector

    • absquatulate@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Used to hear that spacex has been successful in spite of his meddling, not because of it.

      I do wonder if he started taking the reins with Starship, because it sure seems to be giving them a really hard time.

  • expatriado@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    if i lived near southern texas, i would drive for the next launch, sounds like a good show, and it’s free

  • njm1314@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    At this point it might be more newsworthy if a SpaceX rocket doesn’t explode horribly.

    • cole@lemdro.id
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      2 days ago

      lol Falcon 9 is one of the world’s most reliable rockets, and the only one commercially launching and landing.

      Starship is still in development.