
SpaceX Rocket Blast Sparks Safety Fears Before Axiom-4 Launch
SpaceX themselves reported a liquid oxygen leak on the Falcon-9 rocket, by the way.
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s commercial space transportation company, experienced a significant setback when the enormous Starship, its most recent reusable rocket under development, burst on the launch pad, creating a gigantic blaze. Does the explosion raise concerns about SpaceX’s safety record and culture?
India’s Astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is scheduled to launch to space on a different rocket from a different space port on or before June 22. He will make use of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon-9 rocket.
Originally planned for May 29, this rocket launch has been postponed several times. Shukla, the group captain, will take out from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre.
Also, after SpaceX itself reported a liquid oxygen leak on the Falcon-9 rocket, Indian scientists working at the Kennedy Space Centre, led by Dr. V Narayanan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), “insisted” on repairs and “validation,” which SpaceX complied with.
ISRO then said that “SpaceX has resolved observations on Falcon-9 LOX (Liquid Oxygen) leak.” In almost 500 launches, the Falcon-9 rocket boasts a 99.6% safety record. Despite this, it has only supported ten successful human spaceflights to date.
In a post to X on Wednesday, Space X stated: “On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. Central Time, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase.”
Videos uploaded by independent observers revealed a massive fireball and the whole launch pad covered by the blast, but SpaceX has not released a video or supplied information to gauge the explosion’s strength.
SpaceX stated that “a safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for” . “In cooperation with local authorities, our Starbase team is making every effort to secure the test site and the immediate vicinity. While safety operations are ongoing, we ask that people refrain from trying to approach the location as there are no risks to the local communities’ citizens,” the microblogging site stated.
A completely reusable transportation system, the SpaceX Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, together known as Starship, are intended to transport people and goods to the Earth’s orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. With a capacity of up to 250 metric tonnes disposable and 150 metric tonnes entirely reusable, Starship is the most potent launch vehicle ever created. At 123 meters, it is over 1.5 times taller than the Qutub Minar.
Since Starship’s initial test in 2023, five of nine flights have ended in disaster. The most recent failure occurred during a planned rocket test by SpaceX. In 2025, all three tests were unsuccessful. “Fail fast, learn fast!” is the dominant philosophy at SpaceX, according to experts.
Union Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia announced on June 17 that he “had a productive meeting with Ms. Gwynne Shotwell, President & COO of SpaceX, on India’s next frontier in connectivity.” This SpaceX incident follows his announcement. “In order to fuel Digital India’s lofty goals and enable every citizen nationwide, we investigated prospects for cooperation in satellite communications. Satellite technologies are not only significant, but revolutionary in India’s digital revolution led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. “Ms Shotwell expressed gratitude for the licence that Starlink was given, describing it as a fantastic beginning to the journey,” he said.
Mr. Shotwell visited Dr. Pawan K. Goenka, the Chairman of India’s space regulator, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), as well as a number of Indian space entrepreneurs. However, it is unclear whether the safety concerns of this particular rocket or the reasons for the frequent delays in the launch of the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, which stands tall at pad 39-A and is scheduled to fly the Axiom-4 mission, were discussed at all during these sessions.
“It was an honour to meet with Minister Scindia and hear his vision for expanding access to broadband internet,” Ms. Shotwell stated on June 18. Starlink is one step closer to helping the wonderful people of India now that our service licenses were approved earlier this month.
“While rocketry remains a challenging field, especially in test and development, we are entering an era of increased use and expectations,” according to an American aerospace specialist who spoke to NDTV.
“The shortcomings of the relationship between Boeing and Southwest Airlines in the past have taught the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a lot about oversight in recent years. We must progressively distinguish between overseeing activities that are pushing the envelope and those that are becoming regular, as the world community has grown to rely on rocketry. According to the expert, even well-established, dependable platforms may experience disastrous edge case failures.
The mantra of Indian rocket experts is “safety first and safety always” when it comes to human space travel. Interestingly, none of India’s rocket failures have resulted in an explosion on the launch pad.
On June 18, Science Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh stated that “Axiom Space has indicated that 22 June 2025 may be the next likely launch date of Axiom-04 Mission carrying, among others, the Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station after assessing the key parameters, including Module Fitness, Crew Health, Weather, etc. Any additional updates will be communicated appropriately.