SpaceX Starship Rocket Explodes: Cause, Count, Facts
When a rocket lights up the Texas sky, it’s usually by design. But on June 18, 2025, the fireball that erupted from SpaceX’s Starbase near Boca Chica wasn’t planned—it was the latest explosion in a testing campaign that treats failures as stepping stones. At least five Starship prototypes have now been destroyed, yet not a single person has been aboard any of them.
Total Starship explosions to date (all prototypes): 5 (including SN8, SN9, SN10, SN11, Starship 36) ·
Starship 36 explosion date: June 18, 2025, at SpaceX Starbase, Texas ·
Number of people aboard during explosion: 0 (uncrewed test) ·
Elon Musk’s ownership stake in SpaceX: Approximately 42% equity; 79% voting control (2024 filings) ·
Estimated cost of a Starship prototype: $30–$90 million (varies by iteration)
Quick snapshot
- Starship 36 exploded on June 18, 2025 at Starbase (World Socialist Web Site (news report))
- There were no people on board (Wikipedia (community reference))
- At least 5 Starship prototypes have exploded in testing (Wikipedia (community reference))
- Exact root cause of the Starship 36 failure (pending FAA investigation) (FAA (U.S. aviation regulator))
- Whether this explosion will delay the first orbital Starship launch (Space.com (space news outlet))
- This is the 5th Starship explosion since December 2020 (Wikipedia (community reference))
- Flight 10, which Ship 36 was built for, had been scheduled for late June 2025 (World Socialist Web Site (news report))
- FAA will likely require a mishap investigation and corrective actions (FAA (U.S. aviation regulator))
- SpaceX has paused testing to inspect Block 2 pressurization hardware (Wikipedia (community reference))
Key facts at a glance
Six data points capture the basics of the June 18 incident:
