National Security After the SpaceX Explosion

Everything appeared to be ideal when the Falcon took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday until a video showed the rocket disintegrating a little over two minutes after its launch, according to NBC news.

“This is a blow to us”, Gerstenmaier said, as he reminded the public how hard and complex space travel remains.

“At this point it is not clear to the launch team exactly what happened”.

The accident occurred just before the rocket was to discard its first stage two minutes and 39 seconds after liftoff. “Telemetry indicates first stage flight was nominal and that Dragon remained healthy for some period of time following separation”.

The incident marks the third loss of an ISS resupply vehicle in about eight months.

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the loss Sunday of the SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services 7 (CRS-7) mission.

“They supply the station with all these contingencies in mind”, Stephanie Schierholz, a NASA spokeswoman said in an interview with Washington Post.

That escape system, which is already in place and will also be used on the Dragon V2 capsule, which will carry a crew, is designed to transport the capsule to safety in the event of a sudden emergency during launch.

“The commercial cargo program was created to accommodate loss of cargo vehicles”.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) described it as a “mishap”. SpaceX is still trying to put the pieces together and because of this incident it has been forced to alter future planned launches. At the global Space Station, three men waited for the precious cargo, including American Scott Kelly, who watched the explosion on TV. This incidence has also raised concerns about the flow of equipment and food to the astronauts living in space stations.

“We would be remiss to underestimate the gravity of the situation right now”, Nelson said today, noting, however, that SpaceX has made seven previous successful flights to the ISS for NASA. In April, the Russian space agency lost control of its cargo ship en route to the ISS and were forced to abandon it. In October 2014, an Orbital-ATK Antares rocket exploded on the launch pad, preventing supplies from reaching the ISS.