Mark Zuckerberg isn’t happy with Elon Musk right now.
On Thursday, an explosion destroyed a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. rocket and satellite. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Falcon 9 rocket was intended to put Israel’s Space-Communications Ltd.’s Amos-6 satellite into orbit this weekend. SpaceX is a space transportation company owned by Tesla co-founder Elon Musk.
This would have been part of a combined effort by Facebook and French satellite operator Eutelsat Communications SA to provide internet access to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Despite this circumstance, the Falcon 9 has undergone more than two dozen successful liftoffs.
In a statement released on Twitter since the incident, SpaceX revealed the cause of the explosion and confirmed that no one was hurt.
“SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today’s standard pre-launch fire test, there was an anomaly on the pad, resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload. Per standard structure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.”
On Thursday, Zuckerberg released a statement on Facebook expressing his disappointment at the destruction of a satellite that would have provided internet connection to so many across the continent but suggested that all was not lost.
“Fortunately, we have developed other technologies like Aquila that will connect people as well. We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone, and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided,” he continued.
Related: How to stop WhatsApp from sharing your data with Facebook.
[source]Wall Street Journal[/source]
