A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, due to launch on Saturday, exploded on a Cape Canaveral launchpad. Credit Reuters
New York Times: SpaceX’s Explosion Reverberates Across Space, Satellite and Telecom Industries
The explosion of a SpaceX rocket last Thursday will have an impact across the space industry, far beyond the losses on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
An Israeli satellite operator’s deal to sell itself to a Chinese company is imperiled. Planned launches of communications satellites that support international mobile phone service and digital television are delayed and put in doubt. NASA’s cargo deliveries to the International Space Station will probably be disrupted.
All of them are customers of the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, whose rocket exploded in Florida. The private space launch company, led by the entrepreneur Elon Musk, has a generally solid safety record.
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WNU Editor: It was hoped that the commercialisation of space launches would assist in making the business of sending satellites into space cheaper and quicker .... and for everyone involved .... the Pentagon included .... a Godsend in an era of declining budgets. Unfortunately .... cutting corners appears to carry a heavy cost .... as apparent by the recent string of disasters.
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