Why Facebook was launching a satellite into space

“Whether you care about connecting people, friends and family or helping people start businesses, the Internet is one of the most fundamental parts of infrastructure that I think needs to exist”, Zuckerberg said.

Brian Purtell, a spokesman for the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing, which controls Cape Canaveral’s space operations, said that personnel were being evacuated from the facility.

Thursday’s incident marks a blemish on SpaceX’s record, which had been clean since another Falcon 9 was lost during a launch in June of past year. The rocket’s launch was planned for Saturday.

While internet-by-satellite is usually a costly option in the developing world, Zuckerberg said he planned to make accessing the network affordable.”It’s not much good having the infrastructure if people can not afford to use it”, he said.Facebook had 84 million users in Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of July, compared with 1.7 billion worldwide.

Eutelsat reported that the satellite capacity was “optimised for community and Direct-to-User Internet access using affordable, off-the-shelf customer equipment”. The satellite, Amos-6, was built by Israeli satellite firm Spacecom. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has set out an ambitious target to interconnect people across the globe.

“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”, wrote the Facebook founder on his page. Facebook’s solar-powered Aquila drone, created to beam internet access to those areas of the world that are lacking connectivity.

SpaceX has recently been making progress on plans to reuse its Falcon 9 rocket boosters, with the successful upright landing of five spent boosters.

SpaceX suffered its biggest setback to date in June 2015 when its Dragon vessel exploded shortly after taking off on a NASA-contracted cargo run to the International Space Station, destroying thousands of pounds of cargo.