The loss of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Israeli communications satellite in a fiery launch pad explosion in Florida on Thursday comes just as the commercial space industry is starting to flourish. And launch schedules for SpaceX and its largest competitors are filled up through 2016 and beyond. SpaceX has already completed eight launches this year and it had planned for an additional nine. SpaceX will hold off on new launches until the root cause of the failure at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 is found. SpaceX said the explosion “originated around the upper-stage oxygen tank” and happened while propellant was being loaded into the Falcon 9 rocket.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 01, 2016 23:17 UTC