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."

Comments

It blew up Facebook's $200M satellite with it

[JoeyRox]

As they say, there's always a silver lining...

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09...

Re:It blew up Facebook's $200M satellite with it

[Megane]

Yes, now they don't have to worry about bad weather this weekend!

Re:It blew up Facebook's $200M satellite with it

[Richard_at_work]

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.

Re:It blew up Facebook's $200M satellite with it

[bondsbw]

It was supposed to replace AMOS-2 which was set to retire later this year. I'm curious whether its life will be extended until another replacement can be delivered.

Re:It blew up Facebook's $200M satellite with it

[Grishnakh]

There's nothing wrong with laughing and gloating at someone else's misfortune, when that other person or party was evil. Do you criticize people who cheer about the Death Star being blown up in Star Wars too? Or the people who back in 1945 cheered when Nazi Germany fell?

Now that said, from what I've read about this satellite, it actually was meant to replace a failing communications satellite for providing Internet service to Africa, so it had some noble and useful intentions, so I'm not laughing about this, despite its association with Facebook (not everything they do is evil), as it may result in a lot of Africans losing their internet access soon.

Some pics and videos

[Okian Warrior]

I couldn't find a video of the actual explosion, but the Mirror has some footage and pics of the aftermath:

Re:Some pics and videos

[Thud457]

This is why we put our space launch sites in places nobody cares about like Florida and Kazakhstan.

Re:Half expected

[Hrdina]

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.

Re:Predictable

[MBGMorden]

This rocket was brand new it was the first that would have been SCHEDULED TO REUSE later after this launch.

Re:Failure on the *pad* not the rocket

[93 Escort Wagon]

But it's unfortunate that this is being reported as a failure of the SpaceX Rocket, while the malfunction was apparently in the pad.

You're kidding, right? When SpaceX reported "an anomaly on the pad", they just meant the rocket had an issue leading to its explosion while it was standing on the pad waiting to fire.

Of course Musk may choose to describe this as a "rapid unscheduled prelaunch disassembly" rather than an explosion - we'll have to see.

Like they say...

[fahrbot-bot]

Privatization - better, cheaper, faster... more bang for the buck.

Re:Predictable

[segedunum]

This rocket was brand new it was the first that would have been SCHEDULED TO REUSE later after this launch.

So, it's looking good then?

Re:Predictable

[Hrdina]

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.

Re:Predictable

[tnk1]

Some re-assembly required.

Re:Predictable

[Black.Shuck]

Sorry, but that quote is wrong. The first reused booster is (was?) scheduled to launch SES-10 later this year.

Correct.

Not a reflown first stage

[Bruce Perens]

The first stage which is meant to be reflown, F9-023, is waiting for launch later this year. This first stage was brand new, and given the reports that the rocket was still standing with the top bent after the explosion, it doesn't really look like the first stage exploded. The explosion could have been part of the Falcon, the AMOS satellite, or the pad facilities for fueling the rocket. We'll find out which eventually.

Re:FaceTrace's Trace satellite destroyed

[K. S. Kyosuke]

An anomaly on the pad at T-3 minutes when the rocket isn't even turned on would suggest that it just might have been something else.

Re:FaceTrace's Trace satellite destroyed

[110010001000]

Either way, I am sure SpaceX will be headed to Mars in 2018 like they promised.

Video of explosion

[mr.bri]

Here's a video of the explosion. It's just over 1 minute in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...