Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets keep blowing up at the worst possible time

As Elon Musk returns his focus to his businesses, one of his most important companies just had another setback: A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded in an immense fireball Wednesday during a routine ground test.

As Elon Musk returns his focus to his businesses, one of his most important companies just had another setback: A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded in an immense fireball Wednesday during a routine ground test. The explosion marks the fourth failure in a row for SpaceX’s Starship, all while Musk’s other companies and his personal brand struggle to recover after his foray into politics. Starship is supposed to help reach NASA’s goal of bringing American astronauts back to the moon by 2027: The US space agency is paying SpaceX up to about $4 billion for the mission. Although SpaceX has said that the last three launches before Wednesday’s explosions were successful in testing some elements, all ended in mid-flight failures. SpaceX has long made the case that failures during the testing and development phase are not the harbingers of disaster they may seem. The company embraces a design philosophy called “rapid iterative development” that emphasizes building relatively low-cost prototypes and launching frequent test flights. SpaceX believes the approach allows the company to hash out rocket designs faster and at cheaper price points than relying on slower, more methodical engineering approaches that can guarantee a vehicle’s success. But the very fiery Starship explosion comes as Musk has been trying to restore his reputation as he returned to focus on his businesses after a controversial stint in the Trump administration. After several months as a top White House adviser and leading the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk is now taking a step back from full-time government work refocusing his time on his companies, including Tesla, which has struggled in part as a result of Musk’s alliance with the Trump administration. Upon his return, Musk has sought to promote an image of safety and reliability at Tesla, which is aiming to launch its driverless robotaxis in Austin on Sunday – although the initial phase is expected to be limited less than two dozen cars and Musk has warned the date could shift.