SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Explodes on Launch Pad at Cape Canaveral
Posted on September 1, 2016
An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral this morning. There was a mission scheduled for Saturday. One of the goals of this mission was to deliver a Amos-6 communication satellite into orbit.
The Brevard County Emergency Management Office says in a tweet, "There is NO threat to general public from catastrophic abort during static test fire at SpaceX launch pad at CCAFS this morning." BBC News reports that the explosion shook buildings located several miles away from the launch pad.
TechCrunch reports that the rocket exploded during a pre-flight test. The Amos-6 communication satellite contained technology for Facebook to beam broadband down to Earth for the company's Internet.org initiative. According to the Jerusaelm Post the rocket was carrying the Amos 6 satellite from Spacecom at the time of the explosion and the $85 million satellite was also destroyed.
SpaceX has issued the following statement: "SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today's static fire, there was anomaly on the pad resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload. Per standard procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries."
The explosion took place around 9:15 a.m. EST. Here is some footage of the fiery explosion.