Well at least it looked cool. Wilbur and Orville didn't succeed at first either.
2240 GMT (5:40 p.m. EST)
"We did lose the vehicle," says Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX vice president of business development. "I don't have any information right now. We did have successful liftoff and a minute or so of powered flight...We do know the vehicle did not succeed after that."
"Clearly this is a setback. But we are in this for the long haul. We will proceed with follow-up information as we learn it.
Nice try guys! Back to the drawing board.
"impact zone."
Well those are two words you don't want to hear in connection with a rocket launch.
Well at least it looked cool. Wilbur and Orville didn't succeed at first either.
Ping!
Can you change the title to "Disaster strikes first SpaceX rocket launch?" Just changed at site.
Colonel Sanders was living in his truck, 58 years old, and had given over 300 failed biz pitches when he finally got his break.
Sounds like a movie falure to launch But Keep going guys
This company gives the impression of being incompetent, but the good news is they are in the private sector. They will either get their act together, or they'll go out of business . Government agencies after a big failure get a doubled budget.
The entire video from the rocket is online at nasaspaceflight.com.
You need to join the forum.
What happened?
After looking at the video, its clear that the thermal blanket did NOT detach (via velcro) on launch, it flaps around the engine for about 30 seconds, then the rocket exhaust suddenly turns right, then it appears to cartwheel into the ocean.
No pyros on the rocket for the range officer to destroy it, that is how it was built.
I sure hope they can get the next one to orbit without incident. Didn't Elon Musk say he could afford three failures?
Preliminary SpaceX Internal Analysis
(Note: There will be a formal US Government led anomaly investigation in partnership with SpaceX. The report issued by that team will reflect the fully considered official opinion. The website updates reflect only the preliminary analysis of SpaceX and are provided pursuant to our policy of early and full disclosure.)
The good news is that all vehicle systems, including the main engine, thrust vector control, structures, avionics, software, guidance algorithm, etc. were picture perfect. Falcon's trajectory was within 0.2 degrees of nominal during powered flight.
However, at T+25s, a fuel leak of currently unknown origin caused a fire around the top of the main engine that cut into the first stage helium pneumatic system. On high resolution imagery, the fire is clearly visible within seconds after liftoff. Once the pneumatic pressure decayed below a critical value, the spring return safety function of the pre-valves forced them closed, shutting down the main engine at T+29s.
It does not appear as though the first stage insulation played a negative role, nor are any other vehicle anomalies apparent from either the telemetry or imaging. Falcon was executing perfectly on all fronts until fire impaired the first stage pneumatic system.
Our plan at this point is to analyze data and debris to be certain that the above preliminary analysis is correct and then isolate and address all possible causes for the fuel leak. In addition, we will do another ground up systems review of the entire vehicle to flush out any other potential issues.
I cannot predict exactly when the next flight will take place, as that depends on the findings of this investigation and ensuring that our next customer is comfortable that all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure reliability. However, I would hope that the next launch occurs in less than six months.
It is perhaps worth noting that those launch companies that succeeded also took their lumps along the way. A friend of mine wrote to remind me that only 5 of the first 9 Pegasus launches succeeded; 3 of 5 for Ariane; 9 of 20 for Atlas; 9 of 21 for Soyuz; and 9 of 18 for Proton. Having experienced firsthand how hard it is to reach orbit, I have a lot of respect for those that persevered to produce the vehicles that are mainstays of space launch today.
I am very encouraged and grateful that our launch customers took the time to call and express their support of SpaceX when their reaction could easily have been the opposite. We will stand by them as they have stood by us. SpaceX is in this for the long haul and, come hell or high water, we are going to make this work.
As SpaceX is a company that believes in maximum disclosure (within the boundaries of proprietary data and ITAR restrictions), I will try to post as much as possible about this launch attempt over the coming weeks.
--- Elon