The fourth highly-anticipated prototype Starship, SpaceX's massive-lift rocket, blew up during ground tests at its private launch site in Boca Chica, Texas on Friday as the Elon Musk-led space exploration company sought an assertive project plan to blast-off the launch system for the first time.

The next-generation prototype failure was not related to the space group's forthcoming launch of two NASA astronauts from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using a different rocket vehicle - the Falcon 9 - that carries the Crew Dragon service module mounted atop.

Moments after SpaceX fired the Raptor-powered engine on the 39-foot trial rocket, a huge ball of flame engulfed the space vehicle two minutes after a short engine test-fire, leaving almost every piece of the machine in burning bits and apparently damaging the test facility.

The explosion comes just a day before the company is scheduled to send two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Cape Canaveral will be the site of that epic space adventure on SpaceX's tried and tested Falcon 9 rocket, which has flown over a hundred times in the past.

The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon space vehicle is set to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida, at 3:22 p.m. Eastern Time, if weather permits, otherwise the next launch timeframe to dock on the ISS would be at around 3 p.m. ET, Sunday.

The mishap is not seen by space engineers to have any major impact on upcoming launch programs for the NASA astronauts on Saturday; officials of the Falcon 9 do not divulge any common technology with the heavy-lift rocket, but it will no doubt hinder SpaceX's Starship launch timetable.

The rocket disappeared following the explosion, as beamed in a live video stream recorded by the NASA Spaceflight website. No immediate signs of injuries were immediately reported. The company was not immediately available to issue any statement regarding the incident.

The ill-fated prototype that exploded was intended to test out the new design for the company's much-hyped Starship, a multi-million dollar rocket program that SpaceX desires to perfect in order to send humans to destinations in the far reaches of space, like the planet Mars. Musk's space organization has been developing different versions of the advanced spacecraft at the company's facility in Boca Chica.

Nobody knows yet what exactly happened during Friday's blast, but livestreams from LabPadre and Spadre (a different YouTube channel) show what looked like a fuel leak from the SN4 prototype prior to the accident.