---
title: "Elon Musk Releases Explosion-Filled ‘Blooper Reel’ of SpaceX Rocket Failures"
description: "The road to reusable rockets is paved with \"rapid unscheduled disassemblies.\""
date: "2017-09-14"
modified: "2017-09-14"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/14333/elon-musk-releases-explosion-filled-blooper-reel-of-spacex-rocket-failures"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Watch This"
tags:
  - "barge"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Falcon 9"
  - "landing"
  - "Reusable Rocket"
  - "space"
  - "SpaceX"
---

# Elon Musk Releases Explosion-Filled ‘Blooper Reel’ of SpaceX Rocket Failures

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/09/falcon-9-fail.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Admit it: you might have rolled your eyes at [Elon Musk](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/13750/elon-musk-unveils-first-look-at-the-official-spacex-spacesuit>) when he first proposed landing reusable rocket boosters on autonomous seafaring barges to dramatically cut the cost of orbital travel. Then he went and did the damn thing. Last Thursday, [SpaceX marked](<https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/905861374445850628>) the twelfth consecutive successful landing attempt for the Falcon 9 rocket, and Musk has decided to celebrate their progress with the most explosion-filled (and expensive) blooper reel you've likely ever seen.

There's an old quote about failure often attributed to Thomas Edison, and while he may not have actually said it, it rings true here: *I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.* And considering that a.) no one was injured in any of these incidents and b.) no customer payloads were destroyed, it's pretty easy to play a semantic game and argue that these fireballs weren't failures at all.

Indeed, the video's cheeky "How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster" and Monty Python theme music all indicate that to Musk, accidentally blowing up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment into tiny little pieces was simply the cost of doing business. Watching things go boom is always a good way to waste two minutes, but it's also satisfying to see the progress SpaceX made from first attempting a "soft water" landing as a proof of concept to nailing the robo-barge landing with aplomb.

But the work isn't over—the process is [far from foolproof yet.](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/5071/spacex-rocket-explodes-on-nasa-launch-pad-at-cape-canaveral-updated-w-video>) In releasing the video, [Musk also tweeted](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/908254079092002816>) that the next goal is to perfect reusable upper state rocket and fairing systems, at which point he claims the cost could drop by a factor of 100. If and when that happens, we hope we'll get to see another one of these excellent clips showing the flame-filled path to progress.

https://youtube.com/embed/bvim4rsNHkQ

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)