SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Explodes Before Launch Destroys Facebook's Satellite
Reuters reported that on Thursday Elon Musk's Falcon 9 rocket belonging to his SpaceX program exploded on its launch during preparations for a routine test firing at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The rocket's explosion destroyed its AMOS-6 communications satellite cargo owned by Israel-based Space Communication and which was going to be used by Facebook to provide greater internet access across the Africa continent.
SpaceX was supposed to launch its 29th Falcon 9 rocket before dawn on Saturday which carries a $62 million worth satellite. The explosion happened two days before the rocket was due to blast off and place a satellite in orbit which Facebook funded for its plans to increase internet availability in Africa.
SpaceX released a statement saying that nobody got harmed in the massive explosion. People in buildings far from the facility felt shock waves, but local authorities said residents were not at risk. Robin Seemangal, a space reporter with the Observer newspaper, quoted a source at the facility who said it felt like the office they were in had been hit by lightning. "We actually thought the building was collapsing, it shook us so bad," Seemangal wrote in a tweet, quoting his source.
A video showed a massive fiery blast ripping through the upper part of the rocket before the vehicle collapsed in flames on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station just after 9 a.m. The explosion took place while the first and second stages of the rocket were being filled with propellant, Space X said in a statement on Thursday.
"Cause still unknown. More soon," Musk, TESLA's billionaire founder, tweeted.
It was not immediately known to what extent SpaceX's launch pad was damaged or what the impact would be on the dozens of NASA and commercial satellite missions on its launch schedule.
SpaceX has a second launch site at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, and it has also leased one of the old space shuttle launch pads adjacent to its Cape Canaveral site. A fourth launch site is being built in Texas.
SpaceX has plans to launch as many as nine more missions before 2016 ends which will include two flights to place a 20-member satellite network into orbit for Iridium. The company was also due to launch its next mission in November to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. SpaceX is only one of two companies that transport cargo to the orbiting laboratory, which flies 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
NASA in a statement said it remained confident in SpaceX. It was too soon to know how upcoming SpaceX launches to the space station would be affected, but other cargo ships would be able to keep the station stocked with supplies and science experiments, the statement said.
The commercial space office of the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial rocket launches in the US, has inspectors at the launch site and were present during the explosion. They were overseeing the preflight engine test. The agency is now collecting information about damage to the pad.
FACEBOOK 'DISAPPOINTED'
In a post from Africa, Mark Zuckerberg said he was deeply disappointed and saddened at the destruction of the satellite which he said would have provided internet connectivity to many entrepreneurs and others across the African continent. Last year, Facebook said it was partnering with Eutelsat Communications (ETL.PA) to boost data connectivity to large parts of Africa. The AMOS-6satellite was supposed to help push for that plan.
"We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone, and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided," Zuckerberg said.
SpaceX says it has a backlog of more than $10 billion in launch orders from customers including NASA and commercial companies. On Wednesday, it said it had signed its first customer to use a previously flown Falcon 9 rocket, but that launch was not due until later this year. The rocket that blew up on Thursday had never been flown before.
