It is standard protocol to clear the launch pad in advance of such tests.
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SpaceX chief Elon Musk said the accident occurred during the fueling of the rocket and originated around the upper-stage oxygen tank. The pad had been cleared of workers before what was supposed to be a routine pre-launch rocket engine test.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 exploded during a customary test-fire on Thursday morning at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Falcon rocket destroyed Thursday is the same kind used to launch space station supplies. The explosion destroyed the satellite that Facebook planned to beam high-speed internet. Musk said one of the four landing legs failed to secure correctly.
“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.
“We will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided”.
Spreading the internet The satellite was due to become the first in Facebook’s project to spread internet to the developing world.
Officials at Kennedy Space Center were monitoring the situation and emergency personnel were standing by to assist if needed, NASA said. SpaceX released a statement confirming that the rocket was carrying its payload, meaning that the Amos 6 was on board.
Brevard County Emergency Management said there is no threat to the general public as a result of the explosion. The blast was reporedly felt miles away from Launch Complex 40, the launch pad SpaceX leases from NASA; a massive black cloud of smoke has been seen rising up from the site.
It was set to be launched into orbit on Saturday.
But SpaceX also claims some of the most exciting moments in the history of space exploration.
“It’s clearly a setback, but how great the setback is and how long the delay, it’s impossible to know until there is more information available”, said Logsdon.
The explosion heard and felt for miles around dealt a severe blow to SpaceX, still scrambling to catch up with satellite deliveries following a launch accident a year ago.
Nasa said in a tweet that Thursday’s SpaceX explosion “reminds us that spaceflight is challenging”.
“SpaceX is gathering valuable experience, and each accident brings lessons on how to enhance the integrity of the craft for future missions”, he said.
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Two NASA astronauts were doing a spacewalk 250 miles up, outside the space station, when the explosion occurred.
