SpaceX said in a statement there were no injuries, but that an "anomaly" during the static fire test resulted in the loss of the rocket and the Israeli communications satellite it had been due to carry into space at the weekend.
A spokesman for Cape Canaveral Air Force Station said there was a "significant" explosion just after 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) at Launch Complex 40, which is leased by SpaceX.
"Our emergency management teams are responding right now," said the spokesman, Bryan Purtell.
Statement on this morning's anomaly http://pic.twitter.com/3Xm2bRMS7T
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 1, 2016
Update on this morning's anomaly http://pic.twitter.com/1ogCMPCY44
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 1, 2016
The explosion tore through the launch site during a test firing of the Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the launch of the communications satellite owned by Spacecom which had been scheduled for before dawn on Saturday.
People in buildings several miles from the facility wrote on social media that they felt the blast, and live television images showed thick black smoke coming from the site.
Local authorities said residents were not at risk. (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on the Reuters website.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: SpaceX had not uploaded any information about the incident on its website as of 10:00 GMT on Sept. 2.)
-ends-
from Defense Aerospace - Press releases http://ift.tt/2bQc3f4
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