The BBC are reporting an explosion at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where SpaceX company was readying a rocket for launch.
The cause of the blast is not clear and it is not known if anyone was hurt. Nasa said SpaceX was test-firing a rocket which was due to take a satellite into space this weekend.
Pictures from the scene show a huge plume of smoke rising above the Cape Canaveral complex.
The force of the blast shook buildings several miles away.
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An executive from SpaceX's chief competitor, the United Launch Alliance (ULA), predicts that SpaceX won't conduct any more launches for the next 9 to 12 months, as it makes repairs and investigates the explosion of a Falcon 9 booster on Sept. 1:
"It typically takes nine to 12 months for people to return to flight. That's what the history is," Tory Bruno, chief executive of United Launch Alliance, told Reuters. [...] Bruno said the main issue after accidents involving space launches has "always been figuring out what went wrong on the rocket, being confident that you know ... how to fix it and then actually getting that fix in place." Repairing damage to the launch pad is usually not a significant issue, he said. "Historically, it had never been the pad that's taken the longest time," he said.
Bruno spoke with Reuters a few hours before ULA, a partnership of Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, was preparing to launch its 111th rocket, so far all successfully. An Atlas 5 rocket, carrying a NASA asteroid sample-return spacecraft, was poised for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida about 1.2 miles (2 km) away from the SpaceX launch site.[*]
Bruno said he called SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell shortly after the accident to extend sympathies and offer help. "It's a small community and issues especially around safety - but even mission success - kind of transcend the competitive piece of this," Bruno added.
ULA and SpaceX are rivals for private space missions and launches by U.S. government agencies. Musk's company in May broke ULA's monopoly on flying U.S. military and national security satellites, winning an $83 million Air Force contract to launch a Global Positioning System satellite in 2018. The two firms are expected to square off over a second satellite launch services bid, which closes on Sept. 19.
[*] See SoylentNews coverage: OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission - Launch Successful -Ed.
SpaceX will need to pay up for its destruction of an AMOS-6 satellite:
SpaceX may be on the hook to compensate Space Communication Ltd. (Spacecom) for the satellite that was destroyed during the explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket — either with a free trip or $50 million, according to Reuters .
The construction, launch preparation and operation of the AMOS-6 satellite, which would have been used to "significantly expand the variety of communications services provided by Spacecom," reportedly cost the company more than $195 million. The officials from the company also noted that it could also collect upwards of $205 million from Israel Aircraft Industries, which built the satellite. SpaceX hasn't said what kind of insurance it purchased for the rocket, or what that insurance might pay for, Reuters reported. SpaceX wasn't immediately available for comment.
The failure of the launch may also kill a deal for Beijing Xinwei Technology Group to acquire Spacecom.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday September 01 2016, @02:02PM
News so hot we didn't have time to put punctuation on the end of the sentence!
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday September 01 2016, @02:25PM
It's a fair cop...
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 01 2016, @06:37PM
The news is so hot the Musky troll didn't have time to get first post.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @09:29PM
Wonky, the jig is up. You logged into the wrong account to make your useless OCD nitpick. The tango account is now burned as known wonkey_monkey sockpuppet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @02:06PM
This was sabotage.
I'd slide my tinfoil hat on, but I have it stapled in place.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @03:33PM
One does wonder. Upset establishment aerospace probs a dangerous proposition
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @05:44PM
It was Russian hackers. Already confirmed by the Democrats, Republicans, FBI, NSA, CMT, CNN, and NBC. The Russians deny it; that's how you know they did it.
Support your congressperson on their next bill to put reasonable limits on free speech, gun control, encryption, and dubstep to prevent this from happening, or next time it could be your children!
(Score: 2) by Snow on Thursday September 01 2016, @02:41PM
I hope no one was hurt!
(Score: 3, Informative) by iWantToKeepAnon on Thursday September 01 2016, @03:35PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 1) by Francis on Thursday September 01 2016, @08:43PM
Right, this is specifically why nobody is allowed anywhere near a rocket during testing or launch who isn't intending to be launched into space.
I do wonder a bit about how much of the equipment on the ground is going to have to be replaced in addition to the rocket and payload.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @02:52PM
Witness the boom, bust cycle of private space exploration. Currently very much in the boom stage.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday September 01 2016, @03:24PM
we need a "-1 horrible pun" mod. :P
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Subsentient on Thursday September 01 2016, @03:26PM
I like you. I too, like making jokes about tragedy. It's not because I don't care, it's because it makes me and others feel a little better. :^)
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:22PM
They're like a big bright flash of light when dealing with a shocking event.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday September 01 2016, @09:46PM
You know, that's just not very nice at all. I would suggest you read something about tragedy by O.J Simpson, it was quite moving and pertinent to your shameful behavior sir.
You'll find it at ////\.com
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 01 2016, @03:29PM
"SpaceX was getting the Falcon 9 ready to launch the Amos 6 satellite, a communications probe for the Israeli satellite operator Spacecom. The satellite was meant to provide internet to parts of Sub-Saharan Africa as part of Facebook's Internet.org initiative, and the social media company partnered with Eutelsat to lease the satellite from Spacecom."
Hmmmmm -
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday September 01 2016, @03:52PM
I'm kind of glad that failed. I didn't realize they were going ahead with that. India put a stop to Facebook's locked down little plan.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @05:42PM
I agree--if no one was hurt, then I consider this to be a plus for humanity and a minus for the global panopticon.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday September 01 2016, @06:41PM
The launch wasn't for another two days? Couldn't they have put a dummy payload on the rocket if they wanted to test it?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Informative) by captain_nifty on Thursday September 01 2016, @08:18PM
When a rocket is "assembled" at the launch site it is a little more complicated and permanent than just plugging in some cables and strapping down the satellite. It is a process that takes weeks and involves semi permanent welded connections. After all of the work is done on the rocket is when they start checking literally everything including the main engine systems, like the failed test here. Putting a dummy load on for the test would just add more work on the rocket after the test to ready it for launch, increasing the chances of a problem occurring, or requiring a new test.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @09:27PM
The launch wasn't for another two days? Couldn't they have put a dummy payload on the rocket if they wanted to test it?
They thought they did. But this explosion was no mere accident. This is the first public surfacing of the hidden battle between super-intelligent AIs. This was the Google AI moving to block the Facebook AI from gaining a skynet foothold. The Google AI manipulated the weaker Elon AI's worker systems to emplace the satellite instead the dummy payload so that it could destroy both the rocket and the satellite during a vulnerability window the Facebook AI had overlooked.
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Thursday September 01 2016, @09:37PM
All I'm saying is... Roko's basilisk.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @10:07PM
They simply want u to believe it exploded and was destroyed. Its up there already.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 01 2016, @10:12PM
Sheeeeeeeit. They're a full member of the military industrial complex now.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @11:21PM
Coincidence detected.
"SpaceX was getting the Falcon 9 ready to launch the Amos 6 satellite, a communications probe for the (((Israeli))) satellite operator (((Spacecom))). The satellite was meant to provide internet to parts of Sub-Saharan Africa as part of (((Facebook)))'s (((Internet.org))) initiative, and the social media company partnered with Eutelsat to lease the satellite from (((Spacecom)))."
(Score: 2) by julian on Thursday September 01 2016, @03:40PM
SpaceX says "an anomaly on the pad" caused the explosion.
Frog or bat this time?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:02PM
Probably a pelican, or two.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:09PM
So Bevis and Butthead are responsible then. NASA must have hired Anderson.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday September 01 2016, @05:36PM
Curious if insurance will payout since the payload was destroyed on the pad prior to launch. The BBC clip was actually pretty good, imo. Though they didn't say what the anomaly was : /
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Thursday September 01 2016, @06:49PM
A newt!
compiling...
(Score: 3, Informative) by cmdrklarg on Thursday September 01 2016, @06:18PM
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by fishybell on Thursday September 01 2016, @07:23PM
In slow motion and/or frame by frame: http://rowvid.com/?v=_BgJEXQkjNQ [rowvid.com]
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Friday September 02 2016, @03:44AM
Was this the flight-tested (aka "used") unit that blew up?
(Score: 1) by tftp on Friday September 02 2016, @04:33AM
Apparently not [spacenews.com]:
PLYMOUTH, Mass.— Satellite fleet operator SES on Aug. 30 said its 5,000-kilogram SES-10 telecommunications satellite would be the first customer to launch on a reused SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage, with the launch to occur late this year.
Though additional scrutiny is now guaranteed, no matter what stages are used. The explosion as such is not all that rare in space industry, especially among beginners. It's part of the learning curve.