When the SpaceX rocket exploded on a Florida launchpad Thursday, the first thought that probably came to mind was thank heavens there weren’t any astronauts on board.
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Insurers will be bracing for loss claims associated with the explosion of a rocket and its satellite payload on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida yesterday. The failure occurred as fuel was loaded onto the rocket, Musk said in a tweet, adding the problem “originated around upper stage oxygen tank”.
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The Amos-6 satellite was owned by the Israeli-based company Spacecom and co-funded by Facebook.
This post was syndicated from SIGNAL. The routine test was in preperation for the planned launch of an Israeli communications satellite on Saturday September 3. The payloads of the recovery will be a lot and the re-launch time will be exceeded to months after enquiring about the cause of the explosion.
A SpaceX rocket was being prepared for a test firing when it blew up.
Two NASA astronauts were conducting a spacewalk 250 miles up, outside the International Space Station, when the explosion occurred.
Thursday’s accident occurred during a prelaunch test, eight minutes before the engines on SpaceX’s Falcon rocket were supposed to briefly fire. “Additional updates will be provided as they become available”.
SpaceX is still assessing the condition of its launch pad. The CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk who is an internet Entrepreneur and wants the launch industry to revolutionise by making the rocket components reusable.
Damages to SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are still being assessed, but repairs are likely and may force SpaceX to find another place to blast off.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., whose single space shuttle flight ended 10 days before the Challenger disaster in 1986, said the SpaceX accident “reminds us all that space flight is an inherently risky business”.
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This explosion is not only a setback for Facebook but also for the SpaceX.
