Falcon 9 rocket's success rate is 93%, near industry average

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NASA live camera shows fire burning on a launch pad after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a test firing in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

(NASA / HANDOUT / EPA)

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Smoke from a fire at a launch pad after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

(TIA GRANT / EPA)

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Smoke rises from a SpaceX launch site at Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA said SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its unmanned rocket when a blast occurred.

(Marcia Dunn / Associated Press)

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April 2016 image of Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off with an unmanned Dragon cargo craft from the launch platform in Cape Canaveral, Fla. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded Sept. 1 on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral during a test firing.

(BRUCE WEAVER / AFP/Getty Images)

By Samantha Masunaga

Sept. 1, 2016 1 PM PT

An explosion rocked SpaceX’s launch site in Florida on Thursday morning, destroying a Falcon 9 rocket set for liftoff this weekend and its payload, the company has confirmed.

The explosion occurred at Cape Canaveral Air Force station shortly after 6 a.m. Pacific time, sending dark clouds of smoke into the sky and shaking buildings miles away.

SpaceX said in a statement that while preparing for a static test fire, an “anomaly on the pad resulted in the loss of the vehicle and its payload.” SpaceX was set to launch an Israeli communications satellite this weekend.

Per standard procedure, the pad was clear and no one was injured, SpaceX said.

Falcon 9 rocket’s success rate is 93%, near industry average

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