Fireball engulfs SpaceX prototype rocket after engine test

Starhopper, a SpaceX's prototype rocket, burst into flames shortly after an engine test on Wednesday at a launch pad in Boca Chica in Texas.

Work continues on the Starhopper, a prototype rocket for Starship, at the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Wednesday, July 17, 2019. [Photo: VCG/Reuters/Delcia Lopez]

Online video shows a giant fireball engulfing the prototype, which was designed to conduct short and low-orbit flight tests for the company's spacecraft called Starship, a few seconds after the ignition of its single Raptor engine. The fire was quickly put out, but it's uncertain how much damage the fire has done to the prototype.

A screenshot from a video posted by the Everyday Astronaut Twitter account shows a giant fireball engulfs Starhopper, a rocket prototype for SpaceX's spacecraft Starship, on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, in Boca Chica, Texas. [Screenshot: China Plus]

Starship is a fully-reusable spaceship for the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket. It's part of a plan to realize the dream of SpaceX's founder Elon Mask of carrying up to 100 people to the moon, Mars, and beyond. The rocket's reusability is the key to reducing the cost of access to space and enabling people to live on other planets, according to SpaceX.

The Starhopper prototype completed its first hop test in April at the launch site in Boca Chica.