SpaceX lost yet another Starship rocket when one exploded during a routine test at its Texas facility on Wednesday, this time before it even left the ground.

“The Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase,” SpaceX officials said in a statement posted to X.

Cameras fixed on the launch pad captured the moment Starship 36 suddenly exploded with a flash, filling the night sky with flames from the test site.

The mishap occurred during a static fire test — in which a rocket engine is ignited while secured to the launching stand to determine engine and fueling system performance before an actual launch.

The incident marks the fourth time a SpaceX Starship has exploded this year.

Last month, Starship 9 exploded into pieces during its return flight from Earth. The rocket had traveled farther than previous test flights in 2025, leading SpaceX’s head, Elon Musk, to spin the mishap positively.

“Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight,” Mr. Musk wrote on X. “Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent.”

“Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and reentry phase. Lot of good data to review.”

In a subsequent post, Mr. Musk continued to celebrate the launch. “Great achievement by the @SpaceX team,” he wrote.

Mr. Musk’s SpaceX has had a turbulent year, with three launch attempts ending in explosions. Despite previous successful takeoffs, Starship’s 394-foot height and the need for orbital refueling have raised reliability concerns.

The program is the cornerstone of Mr. Musk’s lofty ambitions to colonize Mars. In March, he said on social media that Starship would be transporting Tesla Optimus robots to the planet by the end of 2026.

“If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” he said in a post on X.