On June 28, 2015, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded minutes after launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It was on its way to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
This was the third launch failure of a cargo mission in just eight months, following the loss of a Russian Progress cargo ship earlier in 2015 and the October 2014 loss of an Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Space Solutions) Cygnus vehicle when its Antares rocket exploded seconds after liftoff.
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During the SpaceX failure, something went wrong about 2 minutes into the flight, with the rocket breaking apart, raining debris out of the sky. SpaceX later determined that the accident was caused by overpressure in the liquid oxygen tank of the rocket’s upper stage.
On top of the rocket was a Dragon capsule packed with more than 4,000 lbs. (1,800 kg) of food, supplies, and science experiments. It also contained new high-resolution cameras designed to look at meteors as they plow into Earth’s atmosphere.
After completing its investigation, SpaceX resumed Falcon 9 launches with a commercial satellite mission in December 2015. That mission also featured SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 rocket landing.
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