Nobody is thought to have been hurt in the explosion, which occurred in a routine test firing ahead of a planned launch to take a satellite into space this weekend.
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“There is no threat to general public from catastrophic abort during static test fire at SpaceX launch pad”, a spokesman for the Brevard County Emergency Management Office said.
“We are now in the early process of reviewing approximately 3,000 channels of telemetry and video data covering a time period of just 35-55 milliseconds”, the company said.
Again, our number one priority is to safely and reliably return to flight for our customers, as well as to take all the necessary steps to ensure the highest possible levels of safety for future crewed missions with the Falcon 9.
With its launch pad likely facing major repairs, SpaceX said it would use a second Florida site, called 39A, which is located a few miles north at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and was used for space shuttle missions. Upgrades at the SpaceX pad at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base are close to completion. Built by Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) for Israel’s Spacecom, the 39 transponder satellite’s primary customer was Facebook, which meant to use it to provide Internet access to parts of Africa. Also unknown: the scale of damage to the SpaceX pad known as SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, from which it has lobbed missions into orbit. Last year, SpaceX received approval from the Air Force to compete for Pentagon contracts, pitting the firm against United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. that had long enjoyed a monopoly on national security launches.
Chris Quilty of Quilty Analytics, an independent financial research and consulting company, said yesterday via Twitter (@quiltyanalytics) that the satellite was insured for $285 million, which will have to be paid under IAI’s marine cargo insurance policy rather than satellite launch insurance “because SpaceX had not yet triggered an intentional ignition”.
“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 explains. “We are confident the two launch pads can support our return to flight and fulfill our upcoming manifest needs”, said SpaceX. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was on his first trip to region when he got word of the accident.
SpaceX did not respond to questions about what additional insurance it has, if any, to cover damage to its own equipment.
SpaceX expressed deep regret for the loss of the communications satellite that was on board the rocket. 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.
In its latest update on the “anomaly”, SpaceX pledged to carefully and thoroughly investigate the event.
This explosion has dealt a massive blow to NASA as well, as it was relying on SpaceX’s aim to send supplies to the International Space Station.
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“Considering they do have a decent success rate, I don’t see much harm being done to the industry as a whole”, he said.
