A rocket operated by Elon Musk‘s aerospace manufacturer SpaceX has exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral during a test-firing, doing so with such force that it shook buildings several kilometres away.
Look, I’ll just let you watch it. The explosion begins at about 1:10.
SpaceX confirmed that an ‘anomaly’ had occurred around the upper stage oxygen tanks of the craft. No injuries were reported, but the rockets payload, an Israeli-built communications satellite owned by Facebook, was destroyed. That particular satellite was intended to provide internet services to sub-Saharan Africa, as part of Facebook’s somewhat controversial Internet.org program.
That satellite, named Amos-6, constituted a pretty hefty chunk of change: it was valued at more than $200M. That’s a fair bit of cash to lose in a fiery rocket explosion. I certainly wouldn’t want to lose that much.
“As far as the Israeli communications satellite industry is concerned, this is a very severe blow which could place the future of the industry in doubt if it is not dragged out of the mud,” said the chairman of the Israel Space Agency, Isaac Ben-Israel.
This is not great news for the folks at SpaceX – the goal of the company is cheap, widely available spaceflight, and this doesn’t look good for the average punter. Given that Elon Musk is intending to unveil plans for a friggin’ Mars colony later this month, it might be worthwhile if they can sort out the ‘exploding on the launch pad’ issue first.
Source: BBC.
Photo: YouTube.
