A massive fireball erupted when a SpaceX rocket exploded at its Florida’s Cape Canaveral launch pad destroying the rocket and the satellite it was due to launch soon.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a message on the social networking site from Africa saying he was “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”. A plume of black smoke poured into the air.
SpaceX said in a statement there were no injuries, but that an “anomaly” during the static fire test resulted in the loss of the rocket and the Israeli communications satellite it had been due to carry into space at the weekend.
No one was injured, but the accident could ground SpaceX for weeks or months, depending on its cause and the extent of damage to Launch Complex 40.
SpaceX is leasing the Cape Canaveral pad from the Air Force for unmanned Falcon launches. A fourth launch site is being built in Texas. But it may not prove more than a short-term setback to SpaceX, which has scheduled more than 70 launches, representing $10 billion in contracts.
“Per standard operating procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries”.
The accident – the second of its kind since SpaceX was founded in 2002 – comes just over a year after a Falcon 9 rocket failed after liftoff on June 28, 2015, destroying a Dragon cargo capsule bound for the International Space Station (ISS). “These satellites are insured, so the bondholders are covered, but in terms of the shareholders, they lose out because any damage done to the satellites means a loss of customers such as Facebook”.
Thursday’s explosion could have global repercussions, since the successful launch of the satellite was a condition of Space Communication Ltd.’s $285 million sale to a Beijing Xinwei Group unit, according to an August 24 filing to the Tel Aviv stock market. The companies unveiled the agreement last week, but said it was contingent on the successful launch of the satellite and completion of its in-orbit tests.
Spacecom said the loss of its communications satellite is expected to have “a significant impact” on the company. Its shares closed down 8.9 percent at 38.95 shekels. SpaceX is looking to prove it can safely reuse rockets to increase the frequency of launches while lowering their cost.
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People in buildings far from the facility felt shock waves, but local authorities said residents were not at risk.
