The communications satellite was planned to assist the Facebook effort to expand the internet in underserved regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
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SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who endured lost $62 million with the blast of the SpaceX rocket, said the mischance happened while the rocket was being powered and began around the upper-stage oxygen tank.
“Loss of Falcon vehicle today during propellant fill operation”, Musk tweeted.
“Fortunately, we have developed other technologies like Aquila that will connect people as well”, Zuckerberg said, referring to the solar-powered plane being developed by Facebook to make the internet available in remote areas.
SpaceX has released a short statement to Reuters confirming that an “anomaly” occurred on the launch pad during test firing which resulted in the loss of both the vehicle and the payload. The cushion had been cleared of labourers before what should be a routine pre-dispatch rocket motor test.
The spacecraft is scheduled to launch this coming Saturday to take AMOS-6 communications satellite to provide internet connectivity to 14 African countries.
Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, posted online about the explosion, saying he was “deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite”. The video, shot by US Launch Report – a non-profit that brings military veterans to witness space launches – shows the rocket being fueled before being engulfed in flames. It’s additionally a mishap for NASA, which has been depending on the private space organisation to keep the International Space Station loaded with supplies and, at last, space travellers.
SpaceX says it has a backlog of more than $10 billion worth of launch orders from customers including NASA and commercial companies.
SpaceX was leasing the pad from the air force for its Falcon launches.
The future launches of the SpaceX might get delayed due to the explosion of Falcon 9 on Thursday at 9:07am ET. “Our partners learn from each success & setback”.
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SpaceX also has leased one of the old space shuttle launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center, adjacent to SpaceX’s current launch site.
