a new and painful explosion

The great hope for the next generation of Starship flights has gotten off to a bad start. SpaceX has suffered a new setback at Starbase, and only its rapid ability to iterate can save the furniture.

An ephemeral life. The Super Heavy Booster 18, the first booster of the new version 3 of Starship, burst during the early hours of November 21 while SpaceX engineers validated their structural improvements.

The prototype, which was due to launch during flight 12 in early 2026, lasted just 14 days after its assembly was completed. 48 hours after being moved to the Masseys test bench at Starbase, a pressure test of the gas system caused the liquid oxygen tank to burst.

Redesigned systems. SpaceX’s objective was to test the rocket propellant systemswhich were redesigned for version 3. Fortunately, Booster 18 did not contain methane or liquid oxygen, which would have caused a large explosion like the one that Masseys destroyed in a fuel load from Starship 36 last June.

With the area cleared and the Raptor engines not yet installed, Booster 18 has only caused one victim: its own structure, which has been rendered useless.

The usual suspect. Although an official investigation is underway, the analysis of NASASpaceFlight points to the same component that caused the Starship 36 explosion: the rupture of one of the COPV tanks that store high-pressure nitrogen or oxygen gas in the rocket.

These tanks are responsible for operating the valves and engine starting systems. The explosion of one of them could have caused a chain reaction in the adjacent COPVs strong enough to burst the wall of the rocket.

And now what. The loss of Booster 18 is painful not only for being the first version 3 booster, but for being the prototype assigned to test the new Pad 2 launch pad at Starbase. Without a physical rocket to place at the base, SpaceX will not yet be able to fully test ground systems, such as the new platform’s tanks.

As if it wasn’t already aggressive enough, SpaceX’s schedule is becoming even more tense. And the company maintains flight 12 scheduled during the first quarter of 2026. SpaceX has very ambitious goals in the short term, including the in-orbit fuel transfer tests that it will need to take astronauts to the Moon with Artemis III. a mission in which he now competes with Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin.

Image | SpaceX

In Xataka | A genius named Tom Mueller designed the engines for the Falcon 9. And now that genius wants to beat SpaceX on its own turf