Last Thursday, a Falcon 9 reusable rocket exploded on the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral facility while it was performing some tests. The blast destroyed both the spacecraft and the cargo it was supposed to launch into orbit on Sunday.
You might have heard by now that said satellite was meant to be used by Facebook to deliver high-speed internet in the sub-Saharan African region, a plan that now has to rely on a different kind of technology. Mark Zuckerberg was actually in Africa at the time of the explosion, and he lost no time to express his disappointment over the failed mission.
"As I'm here in Africa, I'm deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX's launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent," he said in a post of Facebook.
"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."
But SpaceX's biggest woes aren't linked to Zuckerberg's disappointment, but with the actions of Spacecom, the company that owned the satellite. It plans to sue both SpaceX and IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries), with the former being responsible for the launch of the satellite, and the latter for its manufacture.
The cost of the whole mission is said to rise at around $285 million, but, according to Jerusalem Online, Spacecom intends to demand $205 million in compensation from various entities involved (including IAI)while also planning to sue SpaceX for $50 million. However, the company's deal with Facebook is likely to be terminated, which makes its comments about trying to find solutions for its customers and even being willing to buy another satellite to replace the one lost in the explosion somewhat confusing.
But the $50 million are likely to look like spare change for SpaceX compared to the damage done by the explosion. With Falcon 9 rockets grounded for a while, the company failed to capitalize on the success of earlier missions with this incident coming at the worst possible moment: the first time SpaceX was going to re-use a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket. It's a pretty deep hole to dig the company out of, but if there's one man who has the confidence to do it, then that's definitely Elon Musk.
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