SpaceX’s quest to make human space exploration a reality suffered another major setback this week, as the company’s Starship rocket exploded during a routine ground test in Texas. This marks the fourth consecutive failure for the ambitious project, causing concerns about the future of Musk’s space endeavors.

Despite the catastrophic events, Musk’s response, posted on his social media platform X, was a terse, “Just a scratch,” an indication of his unshaken confidence and determination to continue pushing the boundaries of space technology.

The explosion occurred late Wednesday night at the Starbase launch facility in Texas, around 11:00 pm local time (0400 GMT Thursday). Witnesses reported a towering fireball erupting into the air as the massive rocket met its untimely demise.

SpaceX and law enforcement officials confirmed the event, noting that the explosion happened as the company was preparing for a static fire test. Initial assessments indicate that a failure in the pressurized tank, known as a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV), which contained gaseous nitrogen in the Starship’s nosecone area, caused the catastrophic event. SpaceX officials emphasized that while this was the initial theory, a full data review is still ongoing.

The explosion is the fourth in a series of failures for SpaceX’s Starship project, each one following the company’s aggressive push for rapid development and testing. Just weeks before this incident, SpaceX’s Starship prototype had failed during its launch over the Indian Ocean. The vehicle, which was hailed as the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, had lifted off successfully from the Starbase facility but experienced a catastrophic failure when its Super Heavy booster exploded before completing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The previous two launches ended with similar results, including the disintegration of the upper stage over the Caribbean. Each failure has added to the mounting pressure on Musk’s vision of Mars colonization, but also further solidified his “fail fast, learn fast” mantra, which has been a hallmark of SpaceX’s development philosophy.

SpaceX has long operated under the premise that failure is an integral part of progress. By rapidly identifying issues and fixing them, the company believes it will eventually be able to make Starship fully operational and reusable, dramatically reducing the cost of space travel.

This “fail fast, learn fast” mentality is a core part of Musk’s strategy for pushing beyond conventional engineering limits. In fact, SpaceX has already achieved significant engineering feats, including catching the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower’s massive robotic arms three times—a daring and unprecedented achievement that Musk sees as crucial to the Starship’s future success.

The Starship’s role in Musk’s broader vision of space exploration cannot be overstated. Standing at a towering 403 feet (123 meters), the Starship is designed to be the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, capable of carrying payloads of up to 150 metric tons. Musk has long championed Starship as central to his long-term ambition of building a human colony on Mars, a vision that remains as bold as ever despite these failures.

However, the frequent failures have put additional pressure on Musk’s brand, which is already contending with significant controversies outside of the aerospace sector. From his erratic political stances to the increasingly volatile nature of his social media presence, Musk’s leadership of SpaceX is now being scrutinized in a broader, more critical light.

Despite this, SpaceX’s reputation in the commercial spaceflight industry remains largely intact, as the company continues to dominate with its successful missions, including ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station with its Dragon spacecraft. NASA’s growing reliance on SpaceX’s services further solidifies the company’s central role in the future of human space exploration.

In response to SpaceX’s string of setbacks, Musk has maintained his focus on the long game. While acknowledging the recent failures, he has reaffirmed his belief in the project’s eventual success. “Just a scratch,” Musk posted, a comment that can be interpreted as both a deflection of the recent explosion and a reminder of his unwavering determination.

SpaceX’s ability to continue its testing and launch schedule has been supported by recent regulatory approvals. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved an increase in the number of annual Starship launches from five to 25 in early May. This decision came despite opposition from conservation groups, who voiced concerns about the environmental impact of the increased launch frequency, particularly with regard to the safety of local wildlife, such as sea turtles and shorebirds.

The FAA’s ruling highlighted the belief that the expansion would not have a detrimental effect on the environment, allowing SpaceX to continue ramping up its operations as it moves closer to the eventual goal of making space travel both frequent and affordable.

As the investigation into this latest Starship explosion continues, many are watching with bated breath to see how SpaceX and Musk will respond. The company’s successes in other areas, like its reusable Falcon rockets and NASA partnerships, may help to cushion the blow of these setbacks. Still, the repeated failures of Starship are a clear reminder that even the most ambitious projects face immense challenges.

Musk’s ability to push through these obstacles will undoubtedly be a determining factor in whether SpaceX can live up to its promise of revolutionizing space travel.

For now, SpaceX’s journey to Mars is still very much in its early, turbulent stages. But if Musk’s history is any indication, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out a way to turn these setbacks into successes, no matter how many “scratches” it takes along the way.