A SpaceX Starship rocket on Wednesday exploded at the Starbase facility in Texas during routine testing in preparation for a launch flight, according to local authorities and live stream footage.

The rocket “experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase” at 11 p.m. local time, SpaceX said on social media, noting “a safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for.”

Local authorities said that Starship “suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded,” with no injuries reported at the time of writing and an investigation is now underway. Live stream footage of Starbase showed the rocket burst into flame, shooting a large fireball into the sky.

Another Starship launch was expected to take place by the end of this month.

It’s been a tempestuous ride for Elon Musk’s mammoth Starship, after three flight launch attempts devolved in fiery glory and air-traffic stopping debris this year to date. Notably, the rocket model has taken off successfully in previous instances, but its vast scale — standing 120 meters (394 feet) tall when factoring in the Super Heavy booster — has raised concerns over its overall reliability and requirements for orbital refueling once in flight.

Yet Musk has clinched his hopes on Starship as the key vehicle for both NASA’s third and fourth Artemis missions — part of a broader plan to return humans to the Moon — due to take place over 2027-2028. The rocket is also set to play a role in launching the Starlab private space station in the transition to commercial space orbiting labs once the International Space Station retires after 2030.

Critically, Starship is also central to Musk’s — and former ally U.S. President Donald Trump’s — broader ambitions to colonize Mars. The rocket is set to ferry Optimus robots to the red planet by the end of 2026, with Musk in March saying, “If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely.”

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Apple has plans to make a folding iPhone starting next year, reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said on Wednesday.

Kuo said Apple’s folding phone could have a display made by Samsung Display, which is planning to produce as many as eight million foldable panels for the device next year. However, other components haven’t been finalized, including the device’s hinge, Kuo wrote. He expects it to have “premium pricing.”

Kuo is an analyst for TF International Securities, and focuses on the Asian electronics supply chain and often discusses Apple products before they’re launched.

He wrote in a post on social media site X that Apple’s plans for the foldable iPhone aren’t locked in yet and are subject to change. Apple did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Apple’s iPhone makes up over half of Apple’s business and remains an incredibly profitable product, accounting for $201 billion in sales in the company’s fiscal 2024. But iPhone revenue peaked in 2022, and Apple is constantly looking for ways to attract new customers and convince its current customers to upgrade to more expensive devices.

Several of Apple’s rivals, including Huawei and Samsung, have been releasing folding smartphones since 2019.

The devices promise the screen size of a tablet in a format that can be stored in pants pockets. But folding phones still have hardware issues, including creases in the display where it is folded.

Folding phones also have yet to prove they drive significant demand after the novelty wears off.

Research firm TrendForce said last year that only 1.5% of all smartphones sold can fold. Counterpoint, another research firm tracking smartphone sales, said earlier this year that the folding market only grew about 3% in 2024 and is expected to shrink in 2025.

Nintendo shares hit a fresh record high on Wednesday, continuing this year’s massive rally that has been fueled by hype around the company’s newly released Switch 2 console.

Shares of the Japanese gaming giant have jumped 46% this year, adding roughly $39 billion to the stock’s value, according to a CNBC calculation of data from S&P Capital IQ.

The Switch 2 is the successor of the original Switch console, which was released in 2017. Nintendo unveiled details of the Switch 2 in January, and the device went on sale this month, leading to shortages of the console in some markets and even to stores operating special opening hours.

Nintendo this month said it sold 3.5 million units of the Switch 2 in the four days following its launch. The company has previously forecast sales of 15 million units in its fiscal year ending March 2026, though many analysts say that is a modest estimate and expect Nintendo to achieve higher numbers.

Nintendo’s original Switch is its second-most successful console in history, selling over 152 million units since its launch to the quarter ended March this year. Its appeal lies in its hybrid nature — users can play the console on a TV, but can also detach it to use it on the go.

Investors are hoping the Switch 2 will replicate the success of its predecessor.

Nintendo has boosted the the success of its consoles through games involving strong franchises with characters and brands like Super Mario, Zelda and Pokemon. And the company has used its recognizable intellectual property and licensed it to movies and theme parks, boosting the success of its core video game product.

For Nintendo investors, that strategy has paid off. Since March 2017, when the original Switch was released, Nintendo shares have surged nearly 470%, according to S&P Capital IQ data. More than $81 billion has been added to the company’s market capitalization over that period.