A fire incident occurred at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas test facility on the afternoon of May 23rd. The fire broke out during the testing of a Raptor 2 engine, a critical component of the Starship launch system.
According to reports from NASASpaceflight, the fire was triggered by an anomaly in the engine that caused the release of vapors and a secondary explosion. Livestream from the news organization showed that the engine shut down before the fire started. After that, fire and smoke engulfed the entire test site.
Cause of the Explosion:
The Raptor engine uses liquid methane and liquid oxygen as propellants and is designed to power the booster system of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft. This system consists of a Super Heavy booster and a powerful upper stage for missions to the Moon and Mars.
The cause of the explosion is suspected to be a gas mixture caused by a leak or a similar anomaly. However, SpaceX has not yet made an official statement regarding the incident.
Impact on Starship Launch Schedule:
SpaceX is currently preparing for the fourth Starship test flight, scheduled for June 5th. This flight is still awaiting regulatory approval and favorable weather conditions. Despite the explosion, this incident is not expected to affect the launch schedule.
The main objective of the fourth test flight is to ensure the landing of the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and achieve a controlled re-entry of the Starship spacecraft.
SpaceX has made several hardware and software upgrades based on lessons learned from the third test flight. In the previous test, the Starship upper stage successfully reached space but burned up on re-entry, while the Super Heavy booster was destroyed in the final phase of descent.
