Satellite-Strapped Rocket Explodes on Platform (Video)

Satellite-Strapped Rocket Explodes on Platform (Video)

This past Tuesday, in the middle of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, a 209-foot Zenit-3SL unmanned rocket sat on a floating platform awaiting launch. On board that rocket was an NSS 8, a 96-transponder satellite that was to be the sixth in satellite operator SES New Skies' constellation. Sea Launch, the company that owned the platform and was managing the liftoff, was streaming the event as a live Webcast from its mission-control perch several miles away, so that anyone from the general public to interested investors—Boeing included—could watch the proceedings.

Video of the launch attempt shows that when the countdown hit zero, the rocket sagged momentarily, then erupted into a massive fireball fed by almost 1,000,000 lbs. of fuel. The explosion, which Sea Launch is officially referring to as "an anomaly," completely destroyed the launcher and its payload. The company's streaming webcast can be seen here on the Popular Mechanics website - http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4212403.html