All of SpaceX’s Texas operations — including the explosion during Wednesday’s engine test — take place at the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, a beachside community near Brownsville. The site sits along the Gulf of America, about 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

A SpaceX Starship exploded at the company's Starbase launch site in Texas Wednesday night, bursting into a massive fireball. Video shows the explosion, which SpaceX said occurred as the Starship was preparing for an engine test firing. The Starship "experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase," the company said in a post on X.