Despite ideal launch conditions and multiple successful missions under their belt, SpaceX experienced a fateful glitch in their recent unmanned cargo delivery to the International Space Station (ISS).
According to the Wall Street Journal, launch managers did not notice anything wrong with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Capsule Sunday morning when it was scheduled to depart the Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
However, shortly before 10:30 a.m. ET, the rocket began to fall apart at an altitude of about 27 miles, showering the Atlantic Ocean with debris.
"Following a nominal liftoff, Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before first stage shutdown, resulting in loss of mission. Preliminary analysis suggests the vehicle experienced an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank approximately 139 seconds into flight. Telemetry indicates first stage flight was nominal and that Dragon remained healthy for some period of time following separation," SpaceX said in a statement. "Our teams are reviewing data to determine root cause and we will be able to provide more information following a thorough fault tree analysis. Below is a link to the CRS-7 post launch briefing with representatives from SpaceX, NASA and the FAA, additional updates will be posted as they become available."
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SpaceX was flying its seventh ISS resupply mission and Sunday's incident was the first time the company's Falcon 9 rocket experienced a launch failure, the Journal noted. The failure could also delay a significant future mission for SpaceX, flying astronauts to the ISS.
