SpaceX - the space transport company founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk - is looking to have a big impact on space travel, and has already enjoyed some significant success.
Given the complex technology involved in space travel, there are however likely to be some hiccups along the way. One was encountered during a test launch of a new SpaceX vehicle - the 'Falcon 9R' - on Friday.
During the test, an 'anomaly' was detected and the mission was automatically terminated.
Garrett Frankson shared a video of the resulting explosion on YouTube:
One of the main points of test flights is, of course, to see if something does go wrong, and give the engineers a chance to figure out what caused the problem.
SpaceX released a statement on Twitter explaining what happened:
.@SpaceX statement on 8/22 F9R test in McGregor, Texas: pic.twitter.com/p7JL5VoQlP
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 23, 2014
Elon Musk, meanwhile, put it quite succinctly with the observation that 'rockets are tricky':
Three engine F9R Dev1 vehicle auto-terminated during test flight. No injuries or near injuries. Rockets are tricky …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2014
