Big Bada Boom!

If you’re in the southern coast of Texas and heard a loud explosion around ten till two this afternoon, it was SpaceX’s fourth Starship test article experiencing RUD.

It’s not immediately apparent what went wrong today. The Raptor engine had been shut down for one minute following an apparently successful test firing, however, methane began to escape from SN4, and a flare appeared at its base:

Immediately after that, big orange fireball.

Back to the drawing board, Elon.