Update on Ship 36's Static Test Stand Explosion

Late last night Ship 36, undergoing a final static-fire prior to launch of Flight 10 later this month, suffered a catastrophic failure resulting in destruction of the upper stage along with damage to Massey's Test Stand where the test was to be held.

According to reports out of Texas, the explosion looks to be the result of a failure in the Starship COPV (Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel) near the methane header tanks, resulting in a leak of superchilled methane that later ignited and caused the explosion. Thankfully, there were no casualties but Massey's Test Stand will have to be rebuilt extensively.

Now the question becomes "when will SpaceX launch Flight 10? At the time of this post, no one knows.

SHIP 36 EXPLOSION! Something Weird Happened to S36 Static Fire Test! Mas...

Within the spaceflight community, "Go Fever" is regarded as a nasty bitch (apologies for the language there) and late Wednesday night it struck SpaceX hard with the explosion of Ship 36 during a static fire test, with subsequent destruction of the Massey's Test Site at Starbase.

First reports are a burst rupture in the methane tank of Ship 36 but again, that is a first report; nonetheless, it is almost certain Starship's next flight (currently Flight 10) won't be for some time to come, if at all this year.