Here’s is a bad news for one of the most ambitious-ever space programme coming from Florida -at least not good for Facebook. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded during the test at the launch site at at Cape Canaveral around 9:07 a.m. SpaceX was conducting a fueling test, and the explosion happened in preparation for static fire. This rocket was all set to launch Facebook’s first satellite to orbit that was scheduled on Saturday, September 3.
SpaceX has confirmed that there were no personal injuries in the explosion:
Statement on this morning’s anomaly pic.twitter.com/3Xm2bRMS7T
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 1, 2016
Destroyed Payload
The rocket was carrying the Israeli-built Amos-6 communication satellite, the mission was commercial and not for NASA. Amos-6 was to be used by Facebook to increase internet coverage to Africa, the Middle East and Europe as part of Facebook’s Internet.org initiatives.
Statement from Facebook
“We are disappointed by the loss but remain committed to our mission of connecting people to the Internet around the world,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg posted on Facebook: “I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent.”
About SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, better known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California, United States. It has developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles, both designed to be reusable, and the Dragon spacecraft which is flown into orbit by the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with cargo. [source: wikipedia]
