A prototype for SpaceX’s next-generation Starship exploded Friday during a pressure test. SpaceX is currently working to to perfect the rocket that aims to eventually carry humans to Mars.
SpaceX has not shared details of what caused the explosion.
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk didn’t seem concerned about the failure of the partial rocket named “SN1, as he took to Twitter to make jokes about the event.
An earlier prototype named “Mk1” also failed during a pressure test last year. Musk has said SpaceX expects to go through many iterations of the space vehicle before it’s ready for use.
“We’re now building flight design of Starship SN1, but each SN will have at least minor improvements, at least through SN20 or so of Starship V1.0,” Musk wrote on Twitter in December.
He also posted video of several nosecones for the rockets being produced at the Texas facility.
SpaceX hopes to conduct another test flight of Starship in the coming months with a goal to send the vehicle to an altitude of about 12 miles.