Falcon 9 explodes during static fire fueling

On September 1st around 9:07am EDT a Falcon 9 rocket with AMOS-6 was fueling for the planned hold down firing of its nine Merlin engines when an anomaly occurred causing the loss of the rocket and the payload that costed around $200 million. A few days before launch, SpaceX raises the launch vehicle vertical and begins fueling it and go through a regular launch sequence. Then, they ignite all nine Merlin engines to ensure that everything is functioning correctly and usually lasts a few seconds. During the fueling process, an explosion occurred around the area where the strongback umbilical connects to the second stage. This caused the tanks to rupture under pressure and

the liquid contents of the second stage ignited and poured down onto the first stage. The structural integrity of the first stage weakened and the tanks ruptured, which caused the second large explosion. The cause of the initial ignition is still unknown, but the SpaceX team is working hard to find the cause so they can return to flight as soon as possible. The explosion of the rocket caused damage to the launch pad and major damage to the strongback. This event is not like what happened during CRS-7 last year when a broken strut caused an overpressurization event in the second stage resulting in the loss of the vehicle and payload. With this also being an issue with the second stage, this creates a larger setback for SpaceX's launch manifest. SES also stated that what happened doesn't change their plans on launching with a recovered booster. SES-10 was set to launch sometime in October, but with damage to the pad and strongback it may be

pushed back. All photos used are credited to US Launch report who also captured this intense video of the explosion. Updates to this anomaly can be found at SpaceX's website here.