An uncrewed SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on Thursday on a launch pad during a test in Florida, destroying a satellite that Facebook planned to use to beam high-speed Internet to Africa.
The blast at Cape Canaveral caused no injuries, but it marked a setback for the California-based private space firm and its founder, Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, who wants to revolutionize the launch industry by making rocket components reusable.
“Loss of Falcon vehicle today during propellant fill operation,” Musk tweeted. “Originated around upper stage oxygen tank. Cause still unknown. More soon.”
Photo: Reuters
Dramatic footage broadcast by ABC News showed the rocket burst into a roaring ball of flame amid what appeared to be a succession of blasts — sending its payload tumbling to the ground as a dense plume of black smoke filled the air.
“At approximately 9:07am ET [US Eastern Time], during a standard pre-launch static fire test for the Amos-6 mission, there was an anomaly at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 resulting in loss of the vehicle,” the firm said. “Per standard operating procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.”
The explosion destroyed the Israeli communications satellite that the Falcon 9 was to deliver into orbit today — drawing a dismayed reaction from Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg.
“As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent,” Zuckerberg said on Facebook.
Facebook was contracted to use the Amos-6 to provide broadband Internet coverage for large parts of sub-Saharan Africa and other remote parts of the world.
A NASA spokeswoman told reporters that emergency services at the nearby Kennedy Space Center were monitoring the situation and conducting air-quality tests to ensure there was no threat to the health of staff.
Officials at the center advised workers to remain inside until further notice, but Brevard County Emergency Management said there was no threat to the public from the incident.
The Amos-6 was the heaviest payload to date for a SpaceX rocket, with an estimated value of between US$200 million and US$300 million, said John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.
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