The CRS-7 resupply mission for the International Space Station ended only a minute after launch as the unmanned cargo vessel suffered a catastrophic failure. Visible on the livestream, the Falcon 9 rocket started smoking, then appeared to break apart. While no-one was harmed, this marks the first major failure of a Falcon 9 in its five year operational history.
SpaceX has confirmed via twitter that the craft “experienced an anomaly on ascent” and promised further updates.
Elon Musk tweeted his own confirmation of events as well:
In addition, video of the rocket’s demise has been uploaded to imgur.
While CRS-7 was a resupply mission for the ISS, the ISS crew does not appear to be in danger of any critical resource shortages. However, Microsoft had put its HoloLens augmented reality system in the cargo for the technology’s first trip into space.
NASA will host a press conference on the failed launch later today. The press conference is currently scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. EVE)
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Arrendis.
