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Falcon 9 Explodes On Pad (npr.org)
Reader Mysticalfruit writes: NPR is reporting that a Falcon9 carrying the AMOS-6 satellite that was supposed to launch on Sat exploded during it's scheduled static fire. No injuries are reported. They're reporting that this was going to be the first reflown first stage.
The Verge adds:SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, meant to launch a satellite this weekend, exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida this morning. The explosion occurred during the preparation for the static fire test of the rocket's engines, NASA told the Associated Press. The blast reportedly shook buildings "several miles away." The company confirmed to The Verge the loss of the Falcon 9 an hour later: "SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today's static fire, there was an 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 Verge adds:SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, meant to launch a satellite this weekend, exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida this morning. The explosion occurred during the preparation for the static fire test of the rocket's engines, NASA told the Associated Press. The blast reportedly shook buildings "several miles away." The company confirmed to The Verge the loss of the Falcon 9 an hour later: "SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today's static fire, there was an 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."
It's very likely the used rockets will have micro fractures everywhere that are nearly impossible to find.
This was not the reused booster stage. That was scheduled to launch later this year.
This rocket was brand new it was the first that would have been SCHEDULED TO REUSE later after this launch.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
This rocket was brand new it was the first that would have been SCHEDULED TO REUSE later after this launch.
Wrong.
--quote-- For SpaceX, the private space company owned by Elon Musk, it was the "first launch of [a] flight-proven first stage," the company says. The mission was using the same rocket booster that sent the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station earlier this year. --end quote--
Sorry, but that quote is wrong. The first reused booster is (was?) scheduled to launch SES-10 later this year.
It wasn't Facebooks satellite - they were just leasing a portion of the satellites broadband capability (36 Ka-band spot beams). This was still owned and operated by Spacecom, they and a lot of customers just lost out because of this failure.
This was the first AMOS satellite to be launched by SpaceX, up until now they had been launched by mainly Russian (AMOS-2 and AMOS-5) or Ukranian (AMOS-3 and AMOS-4) launchers, with AMOS-1 being launched by the Ariane 4 as the only exception.
Sorry, but that quote is wrong. The first reused booster is (was?) scheduled to launch SES-10 later this year.
Correct.
Here's a video of the explosion. It's just over 1 minute in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...