SpaceX rocket explodes on launch pad

An explosiondestroyed a Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk's SpaceXduring routine test firing at Cape Canaveral in Florida onThursday, shaking buildings kilometresaway and sending a thickplume of black smoke pouring into the air. The explosion was captured on video by USLaunchReport, a nonprofitvideo production company run by disabled veterans.

How big a setback is this for SpaceX?

8 years ago

Duration 4:36

Science commentator Bob McDonald explains the larger implications for the rocket explosion at the Cape Canaveral launch pad on Thursday

SpaceX said there were no injuries and that an "anomaly"during the static fire test resulted in the loss of the rocketand the communications satellite owned by Israel-based Spacecomwhich was going to be used by Facebook.

The large blast shook the launch pad leased by SpaceX atCape Canaveral Air Force Station just after 9 a.m. ET (1300GMT), sending a thick plume of black smoke pouring into the air.Musk said on Twitter that the loss of the rocket hadoccurred while it was being filled with propellant and that theproblem originated around the upper stage oxygen tank.

"Cause still unknown. More soon," Musk tweeted.

It was not immediately known to what extent SpaceX's launchpad was damaged or what the impact would be on the dozens ofNASA and commercial satellite missions on its launch schedule.

People in buildings far from the facility felt the shockwaves, but local authorities said residents were not at risk.

"Heard/felt weird BOOMS this morning as SpaceX Falcon 9rocket exploded ... Thank God no injuries!" one local woman,Evie Hedman, wrote on Twitter.

Robin Seemangal, a space reporter with the Observernewspaper, quoted a source at the facility who told him it feltlike the office they were in had been hit by lightning.

"We actually thought the building was collapsing, it shookus so bad," Seemangal wrote in a tweet, quoting his source.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which overseescommercial rocket launches in the United States, will work withSpaceX to understand the cause of the accident, said agencyspokesman Hank Price.

SpaceX had been due to launch its 29th Falcon 9 rocketbefore dawn on Saturday, carrying the AMOS-6 satellite owned byIsrael's Space Communication.

Facebook would have been among the customers for bandwidthon that satellite. Last year, Facebook said it was partneringwith Eutelsat Communications to boost data connectivity to largeparts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Thursday's launch pad explosion could derail the sale ofSpacecom for $285 million US to Beijing Xinwei Technology Group. The companies unveiled the agreement last week, butsaid it was contingent on the successful launch of the satelliteand completion of its in-orbit tests.

In a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Spacecomsaid the satellite's loss will have "a significant impact" onthe company, and it would continue to provide updates about thesituation. Its shares closed down 8.9 per cent at 38.95 shekels.

Internet for Africa

In a post from Africa, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg saidhe was deeply disappointed at the loss of the satellite which hesaid would have provided connectivity to many entrepreneurs andeveryone else across the continent.

"We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone,and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunitiesthis satellite would have provided," he wrote.

• Zuckerbergto press on with Free Basicsinternetservice

Aftermath of SpaceX explosion

8 years ago

Duration 0:33

Aftermath of SpaceX explosion

SpaceX had planned to dispatch as many as nine more missionsbefore the end of the year, including two flights to place a20-member satellite network into orbit for Iridium.

SpaceX, one of two companies that fly cargo to theInternational Space Station for NASA, was next scheduled to takeoff in November for the orbiting laboratory, which flies 400 kilometres (250miles)above Earth.

"NASA still is assessing what impacts, if any, the incidentwill have on future missions," spokesman Michael Curie said inan email.

Shares of Musk's companies Tesla Motors and SolarCity were down 4 per cent at $203.65 US and 5.5per cent at $19.50 US respectively in morning trade.

Tesla and SolarCity are not tied financially to SpaceX andit was not immediately clear if the explosion had affected theirprices.

SpaceX says it has a backlog of more than $10 billion US worthof launch orders from customers including NASA and commercialcompanies.

On Wednesday, it said it had signed its firstcustomer to use a previously flown Falcon 9 rocket,but that launch was not due until later this year. The rocketthat blew up on Thursday had never been flown before.

The Hawthorne, California-based company was founded by Muskin 2002 and began launching its Falcon 9 rockets in June 2010,racking up 27 successful flights and one failure in a littlemore than six years.

Previous accident

SpaceXhad recovered from a June 2015 launch accident thatdestroyed a load of cargo headed for the International SpaceStation.

Earlier this year, it successfully broke a monopoly byUnited Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martinand Boeing, to win a military satellite launch contract.

The pad where SpaceX's rocket was being prepared for launchis one of two operated by the company. Its other site is atVandenberg Air Force Base in California.

SpaceX also has leased one of the old space shuttle launchpads at the Kennedy Space Center, adjacent to SpaceX's currentlaunch site. A fourth U.S. site is under construction in Texas.

Musk foundedSpaceXin 2002 with the goal of slashing launchcosts to make travel to Mars affordable. The companyplans tofly its first unmanned spacecraft to Mars in 2018and sendhumans to Mars as early as 2024.

Musk is expected to unveil details of his Mars program atthe International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico,next month.

SpaceX's major competitors are United Launch Alliance, apartnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and Europe's
Arianespace.

• Spaceflight disasters show it's still 'very hard' to get into orbit