SpaceX rocket explodes on pad during unmanned test
The company said that no people were injured in the accident.
"SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today's standard pre-launch static fire test, there was an anomoly on the pad resulting in loss of the vehicle and its payload," SpaceX said in a statement on Thursday morning. "Per standard procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries."
According to the 45th Space Wing, the explosion occurred at 9:07 am, and there was "no threat to public safety."
The rocket and its satellite payload were scheduled to be launched this Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Buildings several miles away shook from the blast, and multiple explosions continued for several minutes. Dark smoke filled the overcast sky. A half-hour later, a black cloud hung low across the eastern horizon.
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Jonathan McDowell @planet4589
Update summary: At 1307 UTC Sep 1, Falcon 9 No. F9-029 and its Amos-6 sat payload were destroyed in an explosion at Cape Canaveral SLC40
10:17 PM - 1 Sep 2016
15 15 Retweets 6 6 likes
The initial blast sounded like lightning, but was followed by the sounds of more explosions. SpaceX is one of two companies shipping supplies to the space station for NASA. It's also working on a crew capsule to ferry station U.S. astronauts; that first flight was supposed to come as early as next year.
Images shared on Twitter after the explosion showed black smoke coming from the launch pad.
The rocket that exploded was a Falcon 9, in an accident that occurred right before a test of the rocket's main engines, according to a Twitter post by William Harwood, a reporter with CBS news.
Secondary explosions could be seen on video of the launch pad posted to YouTube Thursday morning.
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William Harwood @cbs_spacenews
F9/AMOS6: Sources say the incident occurred just before a planned main engine hot-fire test scheduled for 9:15am EDT
9:16 PM - 1 Sep 2016
6 6 Retweets 6 6 likes
"It is unusual but not unprecedented for a rocket to blow up on the pad during pre-launch testing," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, wrote on Twitter. He estimated that there hadn't been an accident of this nature at Cape Canaveral since 1959.
เกิดไรขึ้นกับ space x เพราะว่าเอาจรวดใช้แล้วมาใช้ซ้ำหรือเปล่าไม่คุ้มเลยกับดาวเทียมที่ระเบิดไปด้วย
"SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today's standard pre-launch static fire test, there was an anomoly on the pad resulting in loss of the vehicle and its payload," SpaceX said in a statement on Thursday morning. "Per standard procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries."
According to the 45th Space Wing, the explosion occurred at 9:07 am, and there was "no threat to public safety."
The rocket and its satellite payload were scheduled to be launched this Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Buildings several miles away shook from the blast, and multiple explosions continued for several minutes. Dark smoke filled the overcast sky. A half-hour later, a black cloud hung low across the eastern horizon.
Follow
Jonathan McDowell @planet4589
Update summary: At 1307 UTC Sep 1, Falcon 9 No. F9-029 and its Amos-6 sat payload were destroyed in an explosion at Cape Canaveral SLC40
10:17 PM - 1 Sep 2016
15 15 Retweets 6 6 likes
The initial blast sounded like lightning, but was followed by the sounds of more explosions. SpaceX is one of two companies shipping supplies to the space station for NASA. It's also working on a crew capsule to ferry station U.S. astronauts; that first flight was supposed to come as early as next year.
Images shared on Twitter after the explosion showed black smoke coming from the launch pad.
The rocket that exploded was a Falcon 9, in an accident that occurred right before a test of the rocket's main engines, according to a Twitter post by William Harwood, a reporter with CBS news.
Secondary explosions could be seen on video of the launch pad posted to YouTube Thursday morning.
Follow
William Harwood @cbs_spacenews
F9/AMOS6: Sources say the incident occurred just before a planned main engine hot-fire test scheduled for 9:15am EDT
9:16 PM - 1 Sep 2016
6 6 Retweets 6 6 likes
"It is unusual but not unprecedented for a rocket to blow up on the pad during pre-launch testing," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, wrote on Twitter. He estimated that there hadn't been an accident of this nature at Cape Canaveral since 1959.