New Delhi, June 19 -- SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has acknowledged the latest setback in the company's Mars ambitions after a Starship prototype exploded during a ground test in southern Texas.

Musk took to his social media platform X, sharing a post from the space-focused accountSpace Sudoer. The post showed images of the incident with the caption "Just a scratch." Musk added his own understated remark: "Room for improvement."

The prototype vehicle, designated Starship 36, was undergoing a static fire test at SpaceX's Starbase facility on Wednesday night when it experienced what authorities described as a "catastrophic failure". The test, which involves firing the rocket's engines while it remains anchored to the launch pad, resulted in an ex...