Top 10 Biggest Space X Explosions (So Far)
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VOICE OVER: Peter DeGiglio
WRITTEN BY: Nick Roffey
These Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies were epic! For this list, we're looking at the most dramatic and visually spectacular explosions of SpaceX Starships and Falcon 9 first-stage boosters! Elon Musk's spacecraft and satellite company has achieved incredible successes, learning from bold and often destructive testing. You can't make an omelet without breakin' eggs! All of these rockets are uncrewed, so sit back, relax, and watch stuff go BOOM! Would you head to Mars on SpaceX's Starship? Why, or why not? Tell us in the comments!
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Biggest SpaceX Explosions.
For this list, we’re looking at the most dramatic and visually spectacular SpaceX explosions - or, uh, ‘rapid unscheduled disassemblies’. Elon Musk’s spacecraft and satellite company has achieved incredible successes, learning from bold and often destructive testing. You can’t make an omelet without breakin’ eggs! All of these rockets are uncrewed, so sit back, relax, and watch stuff go BOOM!
Would you head to Mars on SpaceX’s Starship? Why, or why not? Tell us in the comments!
#10: SN1 Pressure Test
Designed to transport people to the Moon and Mars, SpaceX’s Starship has undergone numerous iterations. The first full-sized prototype, the MK1, blew its top during a cryogenic proof test in November 2019. In February the following year, SN1 also blew apart during a pressure test near Boca Chica, Texas. You can see the midsection implode as it’s thrown into the air. Musk wasn’t discouraged, Tweeting “we’ll just buff it out”, and “Where’s Flextape when you need it!?” Subsequently, SN2 was built as a half-size test tank, and passed its pressure test; but due to some leaky valves, SN3 went the same way as SN1 …
#9: Booster Blast
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the aim of reducing the cost of space transportation, in order to one day colonize Mars. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicles, which return to Earth for reuse, have been crucial to that plan. But those vertical landings aren’t easy to pull off! After a commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station in April 2015, this Falcon first-stage booster attempted to land on SpaceX’s drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’. Unfortunately, a throttle valve became stuck as it came in. For a moment, it looks like the booster has a chance … until it slowly topples over. Making the explosion even more epic, the camera is knocked over. A collapsed landing leg in January 2016 created a similarly breathtaking fireball.
#8: SN4 Engine Test
SpaceX’s Starships are powered by the company’s powerful Raptor engines. But even when the engines fire as planned, something can still go wrong. SN4 had more luck than SN1 and SN2 - passing cryogenic tests as well as static fire tests. However, after another engine test in May 2020 … well, poof! As you can see, the whole thing goes up in an instant. Apparently, this was due to the failure of the ground support equipment's quick-disconnect system. It’s too bad, but on the other hand, every failure is a learning opportunity! And boy are the explosions fun to watch.
#7: SN10 Delayed Reaction
Never count your chickens … In March 2021, SpaceX conducted a high-altitude flight test with Starship SN10. The first launch was aborted after one enthusiastic engine produced way too much thrust. The second however was a success! SN10 soared through the skies, performed a belly flop, and landed … a little harder than expected. The legs were damaged, and while all seemed well at first, eight minutes later … BOOM! The force of the explosion hurls the rocket back into the air, with flames boiling up around it. It hits the deck hard, disintegrating upon impact. Rest in Peace SN10.
#6: Booster Carnage
As in a previous entry, this booster had been part of a commercial resupply run to the ISS and was attempting to land on ‘Just Read the Instructions’. As it attempted to land in January 2015, its descent was far from vertical. The booster featured the first use of grid fin control surfaces for steering, but the fins had run out of hydraulic fluid. This one makes our list for the way the booster suddenly careens out of the dark and across the landing platform, leaving a fiery trail of carnage in its wake! Miraculously, the ship was apparently “fine”! But the equipment on deck, not so much.
#5: SN7.1 Pressure Test
SpaceX pushes their rockets hard - collecting valuable data from every test. In fact, some explosions are intentional! In June 2020, SN7 was pushed to failure during cryogenic testing. It was torn apart, and vast clouds of nitrogen rolled across the test site. The next iteration, SN7.1, was similarly pushed beyond its limits in September. The tank’s bulkhead burst open, spewing a fountain of nitrogen that cascaded down and swirled around it. To be honest, it’s actually kind of mesmerizing!
#4: F9R Dev1 Self-Destruct
In the early 2010s, SpaceX designed two Falcon 9 prototypes for testing - the low-altitude Grasshopper, and its successor, the F9R Dev. A test flight in August 2014, however, brought a fiery end to the F9R Dev1. The rocket completed several successful flights and landings that year. But on its fifth flight, a blocked sensor brought the prototype off its flight path, and it automatically self-destructed. What makes the footage so dramatic is the graceful arc of the rocket as it rises, spins, and abruptly explodes - raining down debris over SpaceX’s test site in McGregor, Texas.
#3: Starship Orbital Test Flight
The bigger they are, the … bigger they explode? In April 2023, SpaceX launched an orbital test flight using Ship 24 atop Booster 7 - a Super Heavy booster that contains 33 Raptor engines. The tallest and most powerful rocket in history, it had a successful liftoff, but failed to enter orbit. The spacecraft failed to separate from the booster, and the whole thing came tumbling back down. In a flash of fire, its autonomous flight termination system activated, and the remains streaked back down to Earth. Despite the spectacular explosion, it was widely regarded as a more or less successful test.
#2: SN9 Plummet
Perhaps rockets capture our imagination not only for their power and possibilities, but also for just how impossible they seem. How can something so heavy take to the skies? Well, gravity won its tussle with Starship SN9. The test flight in February 2021 went smoothly at first, but as the ship attempted to flip into a vertical position, one of its Raptor engines didn’t ignite. The crash feels like it happens in slow-motion as the massive craft plummets down towards SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. The explosion echoes as the craft is torn apart in a ball of fire.
#1: SN8 Fireball
What could top the explosion of SN9? Well, in our estimation, the previous Starship, SN8 had already done so. Launched in December 2020, SN8 climbed to an altitude of 7.8 miles over the Gulf of Mexico. As it attempted to land, it came in way too fast due to an issue with the fuel system. You can see just how hard the impact is as the ship crumples into the ground. Fire races out to engulf the closest camera. The shockwave from this explosion got SpaceX in trouble with the Federation Aviation Administration. Musk was upbeat however, noting that SpaceX had gotten “all the data [they] needed!”
