Elon Musk’s SpaceX Rocket Explodes Ahead of Launch

There has unfortunately been an explosion on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the aerospace company SpaceX – founded by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk – was preparing an unmanned rocket for launch.

UPDATE: SpaceX issued a statement Thursday saying: “SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today’s standard pre-launch static fire test, there was an anomaly on the pad resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload. Per standard procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.”

The company was due to take a satellite into space this weekend.

Pictures from the scene (see video below) show a huge plume of smoke rising above the complex.

Witnesses said that the force of the blast shook buildings several miles away.

Musk – who also founded Tesla – created SpaceX in 2002 with the aim of ultimately making transport to Mars affordable. He plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to Mars in two years’ time, and have the service available for passengers by 2024!

SpaceX has used its Falcon-9 rocket to take supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).

Video: SpaceX Rocket explodes at Kennedy Space Center

https://youtu.be/OC3VonZjp2o

Statement on this morning's anomaly pic.twitter.com/3Xm2bRMS7T

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 1, 2016

Musk on Twitter just a couple of days ago:

Thanks for the longstanding faith in SpaceX. We very much look forward to doing this milestone flight with you. https://t.co/U2UFez0OhY

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2016