Billionaire Elon Musk’s giant rocket has another problem in the race with China

The booster stage of the upgraded version of the giant Starship rocket has just suffered a serious problem during a test at the Starbase facility in Texas, creating more challenges for billionaire Elon Musk’s ambitious rocket development program and NASA’s efforts to return to the Moon.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched an upgraded stainless steel Super Heavy booster stage to test its redesigned fuel system and structural strength.

Video captured by the LabPadre team shows the booster stage suddenly buckling and spewing gas from its sides, suggesting an explosion may have ripped off its outer shell.

SpaceX issued a statement confirming the incident, saying there had been an “anomaly during the gas system pressurization test” but no one was injured. The incident occurred before the company conducted structural strength testing of the booster stage.

“Teams need time to investigate before we can determine the cause,” SpaceX said.

SpaceX hopes to launch this booster along with the Starship upper stage early next year, in the 12th Starship test flight since 2023. However, the November 22 incident could affect this goal.

The company is under pressure from NASA to move its ambitious Starship program into a new testing phase, focusing on a future moon landing mission.

The mission makes Starship a key part of NASA’s lunar program, as the US appears to be losing ground in the race with China, which is expected to land on the moon around 2030.

NASA is debating internally about the best way to return humans to the Moon, as China’s space program advances rapidly.

The booster that failed on November 22 was the first of Starship V3 – a version of the rocket that SpaceX said it has integrated a series of new designs and features to serve the Moon program.

SpaceX can rapidly produce multiple versions of its boosters using a “test it until it fails” philosophy to accelerate rocket development. It’s unclear how much the incident will delay the Starship program.

Of the five Starship test flights this year, the first three suffered complex problems and explosive explosions before SpaceX regained steady momentum. The most recent flight in October was the last test before the company moves on to the V3 version, which is scheduled to launch in February next year.