SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket testing explosion at Cape Canaveral destroyed AMOS-6 (Updated)

by | Sep 1, 2016 | International Space Station, Launches, NASA, SpaceX | 0 comments

A major explosion has taken place at SpaceX launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 1 September. The explosion took place ahead of a prelaunch test of the full Falcon 9V1.2 FT-R rocket which was to launch the AMOS-6 communications satellite on 3 September. AMOS-6 was on the top of the launch vehicle and was destroyed in the explosion. The failure is likely to affect both the SpaceX schedule and the recently announced Chinese Beijing Xinwei Technology Group take-over of Spacecom which was apparently dependent on the safe delivery to orbit of the AMOS-6 spacecraft.

The cause of the explosion which apparently occurred during time of the tank refuelling process is being investigated. The initial ignition originated, according to Elon Musk, around upper stage oxygen tank.

The spacecraft was insured under a pre-launch “cargo” class policy for US$285 million (the manufacturer IAI was the insured). While substantial, the amount insured was reported to be considerably less than the US$330 million launch insurance taken out for the spacecraft by Spacecom itself which also included a measure of business interruption insurance. There has been surprise that the cargo risk underwriters were willing to underwrite the risk at relatively low premium rates which also included the AMOS-6 spacecraft being attached to the rocket during test firings – even if, in the event, the test firing had yet to take place.

Spacecom is expecting to receive US$50 million or a free relaunch from SpaceX and US$200 million or a new satellite from IAI.

AMOS-6 was planned to offer communications services to Europe and Africa. Under an agreement between, social media company, Facebook, Eutelsat and Spacecom, the spacecraft’s Ka-band payload was to have been dedicated under a multi-year deal, to providing free internet to Sub-Saharan Africa

Whatever the cause of the failure, the explosion also caused extensive damage to the Cape Canaveral launch pad 40 complex meaning that Dragon CRS cargo flights for NASA to the International Space Station and commercial satellite launches to geosynchronous transfer orbits for commercial operators are likely to be suspended until next year at the earliest, although theoretically the new ex-Space Shuttle pad at the adjacent Kennedy Space Center might be ready for Falcon 9 operations by November.

Flights to Sun-synchronous orbits and near polar orbits (such as those used by Iridium spacecraft) from the Vandenberg launch site in California will not be affected (the pad should be ready in November) – save for the delay caused by the failure investigation.

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Falcon 9 puts Dragon CRS-28 resupply freighter into orbit on way to ISS

The SpaceX operated Dragon CRS-28 cargo ship on behalf of NASA was launched by a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket Read more

Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 6-4 from Cape Canaveral

SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 1220 GMT on 04 Read more

Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg with 52 Starlink Group 2-10 satellites aboard

A Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 0602 GMT on 31 Read more

North Korean Chollima-1 maiden launch ends in second stage failure – sets off neighbours’ alarms

North Korea attempted to orbit a military reconnaissance satellite Malligyeong-1 using its new Chollima-1 rocket from a pad at the Read more

Long March 2F launches “Taikonaut” trio to Chinese Space Station on Shenzhou 16

A Long March 2F/G (Y16) launched Shenzhou 16 with three Chinese astronauts ("Taikonauts") on board on their way to the Read more

GSLV Mk II puts up NVS-01 navsat

An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) GSLV Mk II rocket (GSLV 2 CUSP 4) was successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Read more

Russia launches Kondor-FKA radar satellite

On 2114 GMT on 26 May 2023, a Soyuz 2-1a/Fregat launched a Kondor-FKA No 1 satellite for Roscosmos. The 1,050 Read more

BADR-8 comsat is launched by a Falcon 9 into a super-synchronous transfer orbit

The Arabsat-owned communications satellite BADR-8 aka Arabsat-7B was launched by a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 from Cape Canaveral at 0430 Read more

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochina25virgin galacticfalcon 9ULARoscosmosFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 5DGAevaaviation weekspacewalkaressoyuzIGTBeidouawardsInternational Space StationspaceBlue OriginSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonStarlinkCargo Return VehicleRocket LabresearchboeingmarsblogAirbus DSOneWeborionISROspaceshiptwoimpacthyperboladelayjaxamarsdemocratgoogle lunar prizerocketlunarhypertextobamaEutelsatlaunchVegatourismconstellationbarack obamafiguresSESnorthspaceflightthales alenia spacenode 2fundedRaymond LygoIntelsat2009romeAtlas VExpress MD-2dassault aviationss2Elon MuskLockheed MartinaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiotestmissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationVirgin OrbitinternetAriane 5 ECAChina Manned Space EngineeringSLSsts-122missile defensenewspapercotsgalileospace tourismflight2010Ariane 5Express AMU 1spaceportbuildspace stationaltairNorthrop GrummanElectronshuttleProton Minternational astronautical congressscaled compositesIntelsat 23CosmosLauncherOneEuropean Space Agencyhanleybudgetrulesnew yorksoyuz 2-1aLong March 4CLong March 2D/2Ariane 6shenzhouatvspace shuttleVietnamcongressMojaveboldenInmarsatOrbital ATKnew shepardLong March 2CGuiana Space CenteriaccnesksclawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BprotonUS Air ForceILSApollodarpaTalulah RileydragonastronautusabasepicturelanderAstriumSkyloneuSSLVega Clunar landerfiveeventfalconSea LaunchWednesdayinterview50thSNCAprilKuaizhou 1ASpace InsuranceTelesat7linkatlantisLong MarchcustomersuccessorFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5