SpaceX Starship SN10 explodes into flames minutes after successful landing

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship SN10 has exploded, minutes after the Mars mission prototype landed successfully at a base in Boca Chica, South Texas.

The rocket is believed to have burst into a blistering inferno after a methane leak, causing SN10 to instantly erupt into flames.

SN10 is billionaire Elon Musk’s third rocket which is said to be destined for the moon and even further, with hopes of it one day touching down on Mars.

Shortly after takeoff from South Texas, the rocket reached its intended altitude of 6 miles before slowly descending back to base, performing its signature flip to ensure it landed vertically.

After reaching base, shocking video footage sees the rocket abruptly fired into the air before becoming engulfed in a ball of flames before rapidly descending back to the ground.

A SpaceX commentator claims that the rocket made a soft landing using just one engine before the disastrous explosion.

Following the explosion, Musk took to his Twitter page, telling his 48.4 million followers that the vessel landed in “one piece” before tweeting: “RIP SN10, honourable discharge”.

The rocket was scheduled to take off much earlier in the day but the onboard computers failed at the last minute while Elon Musk later confirmed that the aborted mission was due to a “slightly conservative thrust limit” with one of the engines.

In a tweet, he penned: “Launch abort on slightly conservative high thrust limit. Increasing thrust limit & recycling propellant for another flight attempt today.”

Those working behind the scenes at SpaceX rapidly refuelled the 165-foot high spaceship before it was rescheduled to take off later in the day.

SN10 is Elon Musk’s latest rocket which has been specifically designed to carry multiple astronauts and 100 tonnes of cargo on missions to destinations such as the Earth’s orbit, the Moon and later Mars.

This however isn’t the first of Musk’s space vehicles to explode, with SN8 going up in flames back in December.

The businessman is hoping to send the first “all-civilian flight” into space later this year, using one of his SpaceX rockets.

It’s said that no astronauts will be on board the flight, which has been specifically chartered by businessman Jared Isaacman, who will be gifting the three remaining seats to “to crew members who will be selected to represent the mission pillars of leadership, hope, generosity and prosperity.”