SpaceX is now poised to embark on its first commercial mission to launch a cargo using a used Falcon 9 rocket, but the Chief Technology Officer at SES, Martin Halliwell simply puts it “a flight-proven” rocket, the Daily Mail reported. The mission was set to take place on Saturday 3 September, and would’ve placed the satellite in a standard geosynchronous orbit, far above the International Space Station.
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Pictures from the scene showed a huge plume of black smoke rising from the area, while witnesses claimed the blast shook nearby buildings. A cloud of dark smoke filled the overcast sky.
SpaceX said both it’s Falcon 9 rocket and payload, Israel’s Amos 6 satellite, were lost in the pre-launch explosion, which the company said was caused by an “anomaly” on the launch pad.
SpaceX has not yet started flying from two other US launch sites, one in Florida adjacent to its current site, and the other under construction in Texas. No other details were immediately available.
A Twitter user posted a photograph of the scene, at 7:20 a.m. saying: “Wow, SpaceX rocket just blew up on pad”. He could not confirm if the incident involved SpaceX, which was preparing for a launch at the facility. At first, it sounded like lightning, but was followed by the sounds of more explosions, then more and more.
SpaceX is one of two companies shipping supplies to the space station for NASA.
The company, owned by Tesla and PayPal founder Elon Musk, is trying to make history by making reusable rockets, and is also working on ambitious plans to create a colony on Mars.
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SpaceX was leasing the pad from the Air Force for its Falcon launches.
