When Disaster Strikes a Falcon

Should we be worrying about Falcon 9’s – SpaceX’s reusable rocket – latest disaster? Here’s everything you needed to know about the fallen Falcon.

What happened?

On Thursday, September 1st 2016, as SpaceX prepared for their 29th launch of the Falcon 9 Full Thrust – version 1.2 of the Falcon rockets manufactured by Elon Musk’s company – the rocket exploded. The launch pad known as Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launce Complex 40 (SLC-40) also sustained damage, the extent of which is unknown. The company reported that there were no injuries as a standard testing procedure was underway when the incident occurred and all personnel were clear of the launch pad.

The immediate impact of this failure will be significant, but – as this article will illustrate – will not be anything more than another critical failure to be learnt from, fixed, and duly overcome in the highly eventful life of Elon Musk.

The investigation: What caused the explosion?

The explosion occurred during the preparation for a “static fire” test – a standard testing procedure preceding rocket launches where the engines are fired at full thrust for a few seconds while the rocket remains attached to the launch pad. Musk and SpaceX confirmed that the euphemistically-termed “anomaly” occurred before the engines were on. In particular, it took place during a “routine filling operation”, i.e. when the rocket was being fueled up for the test. As of time of writing of this article, the root cause of the explosion remains unknown, with SpaceX mentioning that the origin of the explosion was the upper liquid-oxygen fuel tank.