Breaking News: Explosion at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

In breaking news, there has been an explosion at one of the launch pads at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The pad in question is Launch Complex 40, which is currently used to by SpaceX to launch their Falcon-9 rocket to deliver payloads into Earth orbit.

SpaceX have been issuing statements throughout the day;

"SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today's static fire, there was an anomaly on the pad resulting in the loss of the launch vehicle and its payload. Per standard procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries."

Video footage showing extensive damage to the Falcon-9 launch vehicle at the
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. credit: wftv.com

The 45th Space Wing at the Cape stated that the explosion, which occurred at approximately 9:07 a.m. as the rocket was being loaded with fuel.

"The anomaly originated around the upper stage oxygen tank and occurred during propellant loading of the vehicle." -SpaceX statement

SpaceX, which was set to launch the Israel Aerospace Industries/Spacecom AMOS-6 communications satellite on Saturday, was conducting a static fire test on the vehicle today ahead of the launch.

A static fire test is conducted in the days prior to every Falcon launch in which the engines of the rocket are ignited to test its engines as well as other onboard systems, without the vehicle leaving the pad.

More to follow shortly..

SpaceX Dragon Lost Just Minutes After Launch to Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle making its seventh resupply mission to the International Space Station has been lost just minutes after launching from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket and vehicle have both been lost.

The Falcon 9 appeared to have exploded just after the separation of the rocket's first stage. All data with the vehicle was lost, two minutes and nineteen seconds into the flight.

The vehicle appeared to disintegrate just minutes into launch
credit: NASA TV

It is currently unclear what exactly caused today's failure. According the Pam Anderson of SpaceX there were no problems with the performance of the first stage of the Falcon 9, and telemetry with Dragon was received by teams on the ground shortly after the incident occurred.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Twitter; "There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank. Data suggests counterintuitive cause."

ISS programme managers have assured the public that anomalies such as the one which happened today are planned for and as a result, it is estimated that the crew currently has enough supplies to last until late October.

Some of the cargo which was being flown aboard Dragon includes a number of student experiments, plant growth experiments, a space suit as well as provisions for the crew on board the station.

Another item also lost today was the International Docking Adapter-1(IDA-1) which was due to be installed on the Pressurised Mating Adapter located on the forward facing port of the Harmony. This would allow commercial crew vehicles built by Boeing and SpaceX to dock with the station thus allowing them to transport astronauts from the United States to the International Space Station. The first flight of Commercial Crew are slated to occur no later than 2017.

This is the third space station resupply ship that has been lost in the past eight months. Today's anomaly occurred exactly two months after a Russian Progress resupply ship spun out of control and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere several days later. An Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo craft exploded shortly after lift-off from the Wallops Flight Facility last October.

A Russian Progress resupply ship is scheduled to launch cargo to the station this coming Friday, July 3 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This will be followed in August by a Japanese HTV flight. Orbital ATK is moving ahead with plans for its next launch later this year.

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Cygnus Resupply Ship Bound for International Space Station Explodes Seconds After Launch

The Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo craft carrying supplies to the International Space Station has exploded just seconds after launch.

The Antares rocket exploded six seconds after launch. (credit: NASA)

Cygnus which launched in perfect conditions from Pad0A on Wallops Island at 10:22 p.m. Irish Time to begin a nine and a half minute journey to low-Earth orbit suffered a catastrophic anomaly six seconds after launch, falling back down to the launch pad moments later. 

Launch personnel confirmed that there were no personnel in the area at the time of the incident, and that damage was isolated to property within the vicinity.

The Expedition 41 crew aboard the International Space Station were informed shortly after the accident occurred.

Orbital Sciences issued the following statement shortly after the accident:

          “It is far too early to know the details of what happened,” said Mr. Frank Culbertson, Orbital’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Advanced Programs Group.“As we begin to gather information, our primary concern lies with the ongoing safety and security of those involved in our response and recovery operations. We will conduct a thorough investigation immediately to determine the cause of this failure and what steps can be taken to avoid a repeat of this incident. As soon as we understand the cause we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nation’s space program.

Orbital will provide more information as it becomes available and is verified."

 

Among the science Cygnus was to carry to the space station was a study to enable the first space-based observations of meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere, as well as a number of student investigations from around the world.

Cygnus was scheduled to arrive at the station and be berthed to the Earth having port of the Harmony Node on November 2.

Less than twelve hours after the failed launch of Antares, the Russian Progress 57 resupply craft will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:45 a.m., with docking to the Pirs Docking Compartment just over six hours later.

More to follow shortly..