A Space rocket exploded during a test flight in Texas on Friday. This test flight was being carried out in McGregor, Texas.
According to several photographs taken by Buzzfeed, Space X rocket seemed to explode in mid air, during the take off. The rocket in question was a three-engine version of the F9R test vehicle, a successor to SpaceX’s Grasshopper rocket.
As per an official statement from SpaceX, the company said that the process was usual and noone was injured. As per the company, The whole process was a part of the research and development process.
During the flight, an anomaly was detected in the vehicle and the flight termination system automatically terminated the mission.
Throughout the test and subsequent flight termination, the vehicle remained in the designated flight area. There were no injuries or near injuries. An FAA representative was present at all times.
With research and development projects, detecting vehicle anomalies during the testing is the purpose of the program. Today’s test was particularly complex, pushing the limits of the vehicle further than any previous test. As is our practice, the company will be reviewing the flight record details to learn more about the performance of the vehicle prior to our next test.
SpaceX will provide another update when the flight data has been fully analyzed.
Elon Musk, almost immediately tweeted about the incident :
Three engine F9R Dev1 vehicle auto-terminated during test flight. No injuries or near injuries. Rockets are tricky …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2014
