Helium Tank Caused SpaceX Blast That Destroyed $300M Israeli Satellite

Image by Getty Images

By Marcy Oster January 2, 2017

(JTA) — Elon Musk’s SpaceX company announced that it has found the cause of a September launch pad explosion that destroyed a $300 million Israeli communications satellite.

The company’s Falcon rockets have been grounded since the Sept. 1 explosion. SpaceX said in a statement that it expects to return to flight on January 8.

The statement posted on the SpaceX website on Monday said the explosion was caused by the failure of one of three helium tanks, known as composite overwrapped pressure vessels or COPVs, inside the liquid oxygen tank in the rocket’s second stage. The loose liquid oxygen triggered a fuel explosion.

The investigation was overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board.

The unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was in the midst of a routine fueling test for its scheduled launch when it exploded. The explosion was felt throughout NASA’s Cape Canaveral, Florida facility and for several miles around.

The rocket was scheduled to hoist into orbit the Amos 6 satellite, built by Israel Aerospace Industries and owned by Spacecom Ltd. in partnership with Eutelsat Communications of France. It was expected to operate for 16 years in part on behalf of Facebook and bring Internet connectivity to sub-Saharan Africa and television service to providers in Europe and the Middle East. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the project in June 2015.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO