BICOM

An explosion yesterday at the SpaceX launch site in Florida destroyed a rocket and an Israeli communications satellite on board.

A dress rehearsal launch was taking place for the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral, which was expected to enter space on Saturday. However, the rocket exploded on the test pad, shaking buildings miles away. Nobody was injured in the incident.

A statement from SpaceX, the company running the project, said: “There was an anomaly on the pad resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload.”

The rocket’s payload included the Israeli-produced Amos 6 satellite, which was scheduled to bring greater internet access to sub-Saharan Africa from space. The Amos 6, built by Israel Aerospace Industries and operated by Israeli company Spacecom, in partnership with France’s Eutelsat Communications, was set to be part of Facebook’s Internet.org platform to expand internet access.

Speaking to Channel Ten, Israel Space Agency chairman Isaac Ben-Israel said: “As far as the Israeli communications satellite industry is concerned, this is a very severe blow which could place the future of the industry in doubt if it is not dragged out of the mud.”

He added that if a replacement was built, it could take three years.

The explosion calls into question the planned sale of Spacecom to Chinese company Beijing Xinwei Technology Group for £215m. The company released a statement to the Israeli stock exchange, saying that the explosion “will have a significant impact on the company,” while shares plummeted by almost nine per cent.

Israel has succeeded in sending just a single astronaut into space, when Ilan Ramon joined NASA’s Columbia mission, which crashed in 2003, killing its crew including Ramon. However, Israel’s Space Agency has developed a number of satellite programmes and in 2013 an agreement was signed for Israel to provide equipment and expertise contributing to the European Union’s major satellite programme.