Starship SN4 explodes shortly after a static fire test

Starship SN4 exploded on the launch pad shortly after completing a static fire test in Boca Chica, Texas. The cause of the anomaly is not currently known. Due to a large safety radius, nobody was hurt during the incident.
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[@scottmanley]

Thanks for the high quality version. Glad to hear "I'm Okay" at the end.

[@seino__]

💔

[@user-gi3ql4pu8t]

What do you think this means for SN5 - SN7 development?

[@uoppsdnsu4266]

Ya they were streaming and immediately asked her

[@CarlosAM1]

Hmm, if you fit a castle bravo like nuclear bomb inside a starship, then send it off to hit a dangerous asteroid a few years before it hits, will it be more effective than a normal kinetic impactor?

[@andricode]

Thats because the team asked to Mary but her audio was muted

[@NASASpaceflight]

Mary is a trooper! Also, if you see mainstream media trying to link this to DM-2, please correct them. There's a bit of it about already and they think twice when informed people, like those in our community here and NSF, correct them in public. Speaking of which, mainstream media can stop asking me for permission to use this video. That is not happening, we don't sell content so you can be dramatic. This video is for our informed community.

[@slimessiful]

💓

[@MarsMeditation]

I'll be on the lookout. That was my second thought after "ohhh no it's gone". We definitely need to correct the news outlets that take things too far.

[@cboy-ou2hr]

That's our NSF they ain't no sell out

[@Tsa12343]

Integrity first, I like it!

[@ralphmcnulty7977]

MSM will find a way to blame Trump

[@ancientastronut9915]

The Mass Simulator reached altitude with no problems.

[@jonnieshaw8539]

And landed with a bang

[@anwar4227]

Noooooooooooo

[@ambientblue-eyedmonkey8849]

welcome to real life.

[@holzner7]

I cant really see it, just right when it explodes.

[@genkidama7385]

@@holzner7 if you didnt see it with your own eyes, then it didnt explode, it must have not exploded. #flatscience they added cgi explosion on top its all fake ! why fake an explosion ? well because hum, huh, because of the dome we are trapped in obviously. and also i wanted to add, that gravity doesnt exist, and the only reason why everything fall back on earth is because, reasons. ok. right.

[@Tsa12343]

Look at StarHopper, just standing there thinking "n00b"

[@t395delta]

lol

[@genelomas332]

Bwahaha

[@hamburgerhamburger4064]

Especially when his grandson SN8 exploded “HOLY SHIT! YOU *ARE* A FAILURE!”

[@seino__]

• Sn1 - Cryo test failure • Sn2 - tank passed pressure test • Sn3 - Cryo test failure • SN4 - passed Cryo test, and 5 more static fires. Great progress.

[@curator23]

sn3 was test procedure error and sn4 had 5 static fires. Definitely good progress. Failure here was probably GSE related, like the fire earlier this week.

[@14rs2]

And the 5th was when the stack was on fire

[@arizonametamorph6623]

Agreed. It seems they need to test to failure to achieve proof of concept. As dramatic as it was I don't see it as a major setback. Part of the process.

[@vladimirdyuzhev]

So... "SN5 - expect cryo test failure"?

[@AnybyteProduction]

They may not reveal the reason for the malfunction but it would be very interesting to know. It would also be fascinating how they correct the problem on SN5.

[@chadmcelroy4194]

I still can't get over how Mary just calmly said "I'm okay" after a methane filled starship just blew up in front of her. Mary you are the best!

[@thrakiamaria]

The sound come after the visual light. The same happens with dynamites. Simply physics.

[@andricode]

2.4 Kilometers away you should vibrate a lil

[@chadmcelroy4194]

@@qpwodkgh2010 LOX does not ignite, it is oxygen and is what causes ignition. It supports burning and is a strong oxidizer. The LCH4 is what ignited and caused the flames

[@swedsell]

Nooooo ! I told them dont make explode! Why again

[@chadmcelroy4194]

@@thrakiamaria I know. But if the big steel tank you've been watching for weeks suddenly explodes one would expect to be shocked or maybe surprised. I know I would be too

[@someinternetperson]

R.I.P SN4 , You will be missed

[@MCCRITTERS]

Great Illustration of why Spacex waited a couple days after the previous test fire to make sure it was safe to approach.

[@59seank]

I'm so glad Mary is OK.

[@readyplayerdan5732]

Where’s the flex tape

[@startr374]

Mastered Randomness It was setting on top of the mass stimulator during static fire.

[@Matthewdoesmc81]

That’s a lot of damage!

[@BackYardScience2000]

Nothing that fiber fix can't fix.

[@vonpredator]

Yeah... not enough duck tape to fix that unfortunately....

[@irvhh143]

Obviously a major malfunction

[@z-beeblebrox]

*Michael Bay wants to know your location*

[@weatheranddarkness]

if he has a seismometer or two, i'm sure it can be triangulated without asking permission.

[@KaizokuSencho]

You are one hoopy frood

[@robertsee2247]

Glad you’re ok Mary

[@hamzein6831]

R.I.P SN4 17.04.2020-29.05.2020 Remember Mk1, SN1 and SN3 did only one successful test, SN4 did 13 tests, last static fire (13th test) still was a success, for about 1 minute.

[@andricode]

And the worst part is that SN4 Doesnt blow by its own. The LOX cloud went to the flare

[@Diggnuts]

@@andricode Nonsense, even if it did.. How the fuck does oxygen by itself go boom?

[@TetrologyGamingBattlefield]

@@Diggnuts Oxygen is very flammable.

[@vladimirdyuzhev]

@@TetrologyGamingBattlefield Huh? Everything is flammable in oxygen atmo.

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

@@Diggnuts because anything that is within an oxygen rich environement becomes hillariously flamable. Just ask the US astronaut's experience when their oxygen pure cabin caught fire.

[@ronaldbrown1055]

Great watching this live with you guys. Experiencing the community react together today brings a sense of unity! Thank you again!

[@willinwoods]

Wow, that's completely crazy! Thanks for the awesome footage Mary, stay safe!

[@LarsPallesen]

VERY glad to hear that Mary is okay. And as always she has the best footage of the event. This clip is gonna be viewed a million times or more for sure.

[@vaiuuii]

Take care Mary! All our love for you! RIP SN4

[@Codysdab]

Wow, that was a serious boom, thanks Mary for capturing that event. Looks like the stand might be a little bit toasted.

[@gmanor20]

Thanks for getting this footage Mary!

[@tecknick]

Thank you Mary and all the team for bringing these sad but fantastic images...

[@Swooopert]

Love the secondary explosion/sound of the Mass SImulator hitting the ground 7 seconds later!

[@deanerhar]

Sadist!

[@andricode]

It was only steel but dropped so hard than my grandma's shoes

[@lvwpy]

@@andricode "Only" two stainless steel coils weighing more than 10 metric tons each!

[@VieuxPublishing]

I bet the mass simulator hit the methane header tank on the way down causing it to explode?

[@MarsMeditation]

I love how you can see the sonic wave!! On to pad 2 and SN5-6

[@itsuk1_1]

thanks Mary, amazing work

[@EvilTuna]

Great coverage. Thank you all for the hard work! RIP #SN4

[@yellowbelly8402]

Lonely Hopper looks on and says "When am I going to have brother or sister who is gonna stick around a bit longer ?".

[@FrancescoSpace]

Now she has two siblings. 😛

[@Basicbill]

I appreciate that Mary had the presence of mind to pull back from the tight shot shortly after the incident. Close in shots are sometimes unnecessary.

[@antonwulp]

Well, the sound comes quite late and the camera in zoomed in very far, so it's not like she's sitting next to it.

[@Basicbill]

@@antonwulp Of course. But the fact that she did it was good thinking IMHO.

[@chasg76]

Glad you're okay, Mary! Thank you!

[@Therealeliberengut]

You were so good SN4 :(

[@RichXHD]

Great footage, We fail now so we don't fail later Looking forward to SN5 now.

[@xerxis100]

You might think by now they would be a bit further though. This is the fourth one that goes the way of the dodo and they haven't even flown yet

[@RichXHD]

@@xerxis100 ~You might think the progress is slow but if you were to see daily updates on other rocket development in front of the world stage you might reconsider. We all want to see it fly i don't think that day is too far away, each failure is a step closer to success.

[@sluggo7]

@@xerxis100 Elon has estimated it will take to SN20 before a SS v1.0 is produced.

[@coonjamalay]

@@xerxis100 it has flown twice now with the next flight in less than month :)

[@suesun7072]

Glad you are ok Mary! What a "takeoff"!

[@melcloudius8687]

Maria....so glad you are Ok !!! Blessings to you all.....please stay safe !

[@freeform33]

Great dedication Mary .Thank you keep it safe

[@Frizzle8484]

As cool as it is to see an explosion, the setback is gonna suck. Hopefully they learn a lot from this.

[@Round_Slinger]

Setback? The next 2 iterations are already practically complete.

[@carljohan9265]

This is just like that one time the crew dragon exploded on a test stand, and it was revealed that a chemical reaction that was unknown to physics was the culprit, so they switched the material they used in the valve where the explosion originated. Afterwards it has been described as "blowing it up on the stand was the best thing that could have happened". It was also the same thing when a Falcon 9 exploded for unknown reasons during fueling, that was also a completely new failure mode for rockets that was discovered, caused by the fact that spaceX chills their fuel to lower temps then other rockets.

[@zzubra]

Kurtis Thompson They presumably lost the Raptor engine, which is unfortunate

[@macgyver9134]

@@carljohan9265 Often times the strength of components on vehicles are 2-500 times stronger than they need to be. With space flight NASA has typically aimed for 8% stronger than it needs to be. This is because every pound makes it that much harder to get into space, an already extraordinarily difficult task. But if you get it right, you literally ride that explosion to space!!

[@Viper607706]

@@carljohan9265 it wasn't an unknown reaction i think, it was highly reactive fuel getting into a place it wasn't supposed to, they ended up replacing the valves with burst disks so that couldn't happen, unless there were new findings?

[@brettmciver432]

Thank you to Mary and the boys for this quick upload, scary stuff but awesome🍻🍻🍻

[@ArztvomDienst]

That escalated quickly. Glad you're ok !

[@chaichantheshiba5902]

Mary is okay

[@emilartwave]

Well it is pretty dangerous even if it's far away :)

[@lingannis]

from what I saw in SPadre feed, the second "bang" (a few seconds after the first) is the mass simulator falling over SN4 (already on the floor)

[@MrDuncanDonut]

I think we will find that the Ground Support lines from the fuel farm were damaged by acoustic noise from the static fire. The water deluge system at the BC site isn't exactly great.

[@denninosyos]

Probably!

[@SherlocckHolmez]

agreed

[@4partharmony557]

Just looking at the energy of the explosion and how the vehicle literally blew apart I wouldn't be surprised if oxygen found it's way into the methane tank.

[@kschleic9053]

@@4partharmony557 no, the detonation occured outside the tank, in the cloud of venting methane.. the shockwave tore the tank apart, and then there was a secondary detonation in the resulting new cloud of methane+oxygen... Most of the methane+oxygen fell to the ground as a liquid and then proceeded to burn the steel support structure and tank materials

[@davidbowerman6433]

There is no water suppression system but it sure would be a good idea to have one now. That was all liquid methane pouring out from a ruptured seam on the bottom of the tank. Turn to the opposite viewpoint, and you can see it poring over the framing that holds the rocket in place. It’s not coming from a line.

[@devindykstra]

That must have been absolutely terrifying. Just peacefully observing Starship after a successful static fire and it just erupts into a ball of flame. I really appreciate you zoomed the camera out, allowing us to see the full scale of the Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly.

[@More-Space-In-Ear]

Holy crap batman!!…looked like a leak at the bottom caused it, this is so sad, I was really hoping this one would fly but not liked this 😢

[@Dac85]

Luckily we have SN5 and SN6 pretty much ready to roll out for sacrificial testing.

[@johnnaumann7766]

I remember watching the earlier videos of the beginning of the space program, so many rockets had exploded. I would expect this to be no different plus no one else has built such a large craft. Can't really compare it to the Saturn 5 because despite how large the delivery rockets were, the capsule was quite small. It will be interesting to see the progress on this. Especially when the future plans call for quite a number of crew members.

[@More-Space-In-Ear]

Dac85 I sometimes wonder how much more money can Elon throw at these early stages.......I’d also like to know where SN4 landed, there was some sheets flying...I suppose we will find out sooner or later..

[@JOlivier2011]

Not like this. Not like this.

[@robin_holden]

MostToasties Matrix! Anyway, this is what tests are for. It’s not throwing money away, it’s learning. You want the failures in the test, not the real thing.

[@JesseBusman1996]

R.I.P! Rooting for SN5 hop :D

[@totallyterriblecontent6739]

@@Darth_Revan25 And SN6 hopped successfully, SN8 was a success even though it performed a *rapid unscheduled disassembly* upon landing. SN9 has fainted in highbay and I hope it hops successfully!

[@cal-native]

Just wanna hug Mary! She's the best!!

[@TheAngryAstronaut]

Mary, with your kind permission, I will be using this on footage on my video tonight, as you also allowed for the SN3 explosion. I will, of course, give you guys full credit on my channel. If you would prefer that I use another source this time, please let me know. Thank you for your incomparable footage, and I'm SO GLAD that no one was injured.

[@joeharris4517]

Thankyou Mary. Glad you are okay!! That waz a decent explosion!!

[@Lordssodier]

That was a relative safe explosion to me in terms of the (-pad-) plant. Good to know that this type o failure did not damaged the (-pad-) plant. I hope that they can learn even more the limits and problems with the build process so that they can fly a safer Starship!

[@pipersall6761]

Actually I think it destroyed the pad. That mangled mess sticking up there is whats left.

[@tcumming123]

I keep reminding people that a methane explosion has the potential to be even bigger than this. Luckily it was in the open where the methane isn't confined.

[@revenevan11]

It is a bit scary to think about if the tanks had been completely full though. Damage to the farm could be a bit of a setback for them I'd imagine. (And it would be a tragedy if anything happened to starhopper!)

[@Lordssodier]

@@pipersall6761 You are right. I meant to say the other elements of the plant, but the pad it self was damaged. As others have mentioned, it could be much worse, but thankfully it seems like only the pad suffered considerable damage.

[@AeroGraphica]

The secondary explosion at 1:22 was the mass simulator hitting ground .

[@chasg76]

How much of that ship would have gone skyward if the mass simulator wasn't there!?

[@59seank]

@@chasg76 They would have completed the 500-meter test! ;)

[@Tounushi]

Well, they did manage to launch it, then.

[@lvwpy]

Yeah, just imagine those two stainless steel coils of more than 12 tons each, falling from more than 50 meters high!

[@DesignedbyWill2084]

You can see a shock wave in the flames at that point, probably a COPV rather than a chunk of metal hitting the ground.

[@davidenglund]

Nice work! Really fascinating.

[@ampglass]

I am impressed by Mary’s suppression of any vocal reaction to the blast, allowing us to experience the sound. Not even a gasp! 👏

[@gammonlatrell6248]

Elon Musk.....that’s how we learn..........I need three more rockets!

[@ninjaslash52_98]

First can’t even do a static fire now 5 static fires next a hop

[@EugeneMazur]

What is there to learn if this technology is half a century old?

[@energieinfo21]

@@EugeneMazur How to combine half century old tech with not so old raptor engines and steering systems to fly to Mars.

[@energieinfo21]

@Gammon Latrell: Yes, it's the hard but fast way to learn. Good that Spaceships do NOT rely on carbon fiber rocket bodies which need months to manufacture and are maybe 10 times more expensive.

[@gunrage]

Good thing these tanks were almost empty. The fuel farm would've been leveled otherwise.

[@izzad777]

Yeah but even then, the shockwave. I would hate to see a superheavy or full stacked starship gone boom.

[@willgibson2924]

@@izzad777 speaking of the Saturn V: "that thing will be like a half kiloton A-bomb if it goes up"

[@izzad777]

@@willgibson2924 meanwhile N1 soviet union: wheres the other launch pad, comrade?

[@xordus]

I was wondering how much fuel was involved.

[@izzad777]

@@dan_13 not if the fuel deflegrate, like n1 did.

[@Stereo3DProductions]

That wasn't no RUD, holy crap! Thank you for being there to capture things like this!

[@gbeans4494]

my favorite quote from everyday astronaut, ¨it was no longer pointy end up and flamy end down, it was pointy end gone and flamy end crushed by a ten tonne block that fell from the sky¨

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

SN4 was too close to the test site :-) Mistakes happen, this is why we *test things for critical missions.* Good job, now we know for how close the star ship should stand to the rocket flame :-) Good to hear that She is OK, whoever she was.

[@morejolli]

SN4 is the test site my dude. It leaked fuel and/or oxidizer after a static test fire (basically strapping it down and running the rocket engine) and the nearby flare stack ignited the leak.

[@SimplySpace]

Damn! And that wasn't even with a full fuel load.

[@peterbarratt8699]

Well, now we know the afterburn(er) works !! That was a helluva shock to wake up to ! At least no injuries. BCGal & crew, thanks again.

[@semmelatanc]

Glad Mary was OK. Wow...what a boom. On to SN5 and a new pad!

[@notlegal99]

definitely hoped 150m for sure 😂.the engineers and scientists scream "NEEEEXT" and sn5 is shivering in the corner while sn6 is telling him that everything is going to be alright 😂

[@Sighience]

Nooooo 😭

[@carljohan9265]

Look on the bright side, this is what you want to happen to your test prototypes. You want them to reveal the weaknesses so that you can address them in future iterations. SpaceX has said that the dragon capsule that exploded on the test stand was the best thing that could have happened, because it revealed an explosive reaction between materials that was unknown to physics at the time.

[@Sighience]

Yeah you have a point!

[@eeprom7771]

Great hi res footage.... you can see the flame work its way back to the ship from the flare stack..... glad Mary is safe...

[@sealpiercing8476]

Another round! Glad you're OK.

[@ThisOldSkater]

Goverment program: Oh no! See you in 10 years... SpaceX: Huh...ok, see you in 10 days.

[@Elimarzordan]

Rest in pieces SN4

[@chopchop3458]

GLAD YOU ARE SAFE MARY!

[@archielundy3131]

Wow Mary. Glad you're ok.

[@nedodo2380]

Wow. Imagine a fully loaded super heavy booster with starship on top exploding. That would be crazy

[@hrissan]

Nedodo idea of BFR with 7000 tons of fuel does not seem so beautiful after this...

[@vladimirdyuzhev]

Imaging it also full of people.

[@bastienbongers8036]

@@vladimirdyuzhev They sure have a long way to go

[@moondoglt]

Wind from different direction. Burn off stack ignited the blowoff venting from ship.

[@RichXHD]

it was ignited under SN4 not from the stack ~ they did a frame by frame replay on the live stream :)

[@michi386]

thought so too at first but it exploded on its own... kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpuuhKacaaijbLc

[@RichXHD]

@@michi386 Man the Mass simulator comes down with a thump on the reverse view!

[@keithrobertson8096]

Glad Mary and everyone ok. Great footage and yes I have just freeze framed it on desk top and seems flare stack did ignite venting gases. Good job there planning to recycle gases from flare stack in near future . . . Oops.

[@lordnedz]

Glad you are ok Mary! Boo, no hop for SN4. Come on SN5 🎲🎲! Thank you Mary for taking the risk to be there. And again I am glad you are safe and you and what you and your crew do is loved and appreciated. 😊

[@Shoorit]

Oh damn.. RIP raptor. Expensive explosion. She was close.. or has sound been altered to match explosion?

[@bellum128]

Sound is matched in the second clip, first is real-time, so shes not SUPER close.

[@ericalbertson3035]

She tells you in the video. Read it

[@Rasgore4]

:(

[@More-Space-In-Ear]

Hope everyone is okay, glad to hear Mary is....👍🏼

[@shadowraith1]

Great coverage today. Many kudos to all and of course BocaChicaGal. Thank you.👍🚀🚀🚀👍

[@TheFrankieMcMurphy]

Very Glad to know that my dude is ok

[@gregoryyoung2845]

Thank you Mary, so glad you are OK. This is why we test!

[@MATTFIOCCHI]

You are SO on the ball!

[@nickloughren1919]

I’m so glad to hear Mary saying she okay

[@kayboku7281]

@nasaspaceflight any chance of a frame by frame slo mo of the explosion? With a few seconds on each frame? That would be amazing! Love your work!

[@phoenixsamus]

Omg I hope your safe Mary... did you feel the heat or shock wave??? This is so scary

[@cspaceinfinity0116]

Wow thanks for brave the danger to bring us this awsome footage as usual

[@chrischeshire6528]

Your amazing Mary! Great Job of reporting. Thanks and SN4 you were great.

[@rogermonteiro7707]

Was a good progress! Very good!

[@jk20404a]

great footage, i am still shockt, i wanted this to to fly...well it did and it was spectecular!

[@emilartwave]

Beautiful explosion nice quality.

[@KyleClerico]

Starhopper LIVES! Actually pretty cool to see a fellow rocket survive a close proximity explosion... not that they would want to fly it without a serious makeover if it's been through that.

[@alexye3283]

Keep going, no failures can stop you

[@billthomas2598]

Firstly and most importantly, so happy Mary was safe and ok and respect to all who's 1st thoughts were for Mary. After watching several different angles of coverage it seems there was a massive 'leak' of the super cooled CH4 from SN4 and when the methane vapour reached the flare it was all over for SN4. SN4 did great job even today. much will be learnt from this R.U.D event.

[@billthomas2598]

Nope, I was wrong, it didn't start at the flare stack. It started at and under SN4.

[@nathanball99]

I like how "Starship Launch Animation" is one of the recommended videos off to the side. Eyes on the prize much? XD

[@Kgknipp]

Magnificent and part of the plan!

[@mikerobertson6663]

Glad you’re well Mary. I’m guessing the tank ruptured at the skirt. It appears as if part of the skirt went flying by the liquid solos.

[@rh323]

That's too bad. I am glad nobody got hurt! I was looking forward to the 150m hop. Oh well...SN5/SN6!

[@buckedupbuckeye]

Crazy how far we came.

[@HilkoRigterink]

@Mary do you have icewater running through your veins? How did you stay so cool and having the sense of doing a zoom-out. Superb! Well done. Do please stay safe! And yes, this is why "we" test! Hope it doesnt set SpaceX back too far.

[@ryana6494]

Crazy you can hear the double explosion. Outside gasses blew first making the shockwave and then all the fuel. Wild.

[@salomoncyber]

Did I already mention how great job You're doing?

[@joshuasantos3831]

We shouldn’t forget that this iteration was a MASSIVE improvement compared to mk1, sn1 and sn3.

[@steveburley3738]

One step closer to a total success!

[@limiv5272]

At least SN4 went out with style (-: I missed the captions the last few videos, with all the different parts for the different Starships being shuffled around, so I'm glad to see them back. That being said, I would've recognized the RUD on my own...

[@alexandergames7843]

This is why they test so many times. Great work, they'll do better on sn5!

[@williamsmothers8830]

Was this the 5th or 6th static fire for SN4? I also know that the Raptor was replaced, a test or two ago, but I cannot recall if the 2nd Raptor was in place before or after the small vent fire?

[@liamtiam8828]

Can’t wait to hear what happened now