A SpaceX flight was seen bursting into a gigantic ball of fire during a routine test in Texas Wednesday night.

The Starship 36 rocket was undergoing a static fire test at Elon Musk‘s Starbase test site at around 11pm when shocking footage shows its nose suddenly bursts open – causing the screen to momentarily flash white.

When the light finally faded, a giant ball of fire could be seen spreading on the ground as black clouds of smoke reached up to the night sky.

The static fire test is a pre-flight procedure in which a rocket engine or a set of engines are ignited while the vehicle is firmly bolted to the launch mount, meaning the rocket was not set to launch Wednesday night when the explosion occurred.

Residents in the area reported that the massive explosion shook windows and rattled dishes, according to ValleyCentral.

The terrifying sight comes just weeks after another model of the 403-foot rocket exploded over the Indian Ocean in a fiery failure.

In that instance, the rocket was launched in an effort to deploy eight Starlink satellite simulators and test the vehicle’s reentry system by removing 100 heat-shield tiles, according to Fox News.

Although launch and initial ascent went smoothly, the Super Heavy booster suffered a catastrophic failure when its engines reignited for splashdown.

Shocking footage from SpaceX’s Starbase shows the Starship apparently trying to lift off during a static fire test o

The Starship’s nose suddenly burst open – creating a massive ball of fire

SpaceX confirmed the loss of the booster but noted the failure was expected given the extreme test conditions. 

Despite the setback of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s dream of interplanetary colonization, the aerospace company emphasized the value of the flight last month.

‘With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary,’ the company said.

Musk added, ‘Launch cadence for the next 3 flights will be faster – approximately one every 3 to 4 weeks.’

The Starship’s failure is the latest in a series of setbacks for the program, which has faced multiple test failures, including an aborted flight in April. 

Nevertheless, SpaceX remains committed to rapid iteration and development.

‘Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable,’ the company said on its website. 

‘But by putting hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.’

 This is a breaking news story and will be updated.