SpaceX, Elon Musk's answer to cheap space transport, has come into a lot of trouble again. The company is facing doubts ever since Falcon 9 rocket exploded on September 1. What was supposed to be a routine flight, turned into a disaster when the 277 foot-tall rocket with its $200 million satellite cargo disappeared in an explosion.
Ever since, SpaceX has been keeping itself closed on questions about what went wrong on that day. SpaceX is a highly sought after company by investors but after looking at their second launch failure in 15 months, things are not looking so great.
According to Wall Street Journal, the explosion might have resulted out of an operational failure rather than structural or manufacturing defect. An investigation has been launched since, comprising of people from SpaceX, NASA, FAA and the USAF along with top industry experts.
The investigation team has been sniffing out every thing that might shed some light on the explosion, and these things include photo, video and audio along with massive amounts of engineering data.
Analysis of these sources would help the investigation team focus on attributes that may have caused the explosion. Some sources suggest sabotage, however, the investigation has led the team to believe the second stage liquid oxygen tank might have been at fault.
SpaceX, through a spokesperson, has stated that according to preliminary findings and reports, the second stage liquid oxygen tank had a large breach in its cryogenic helium system. The spokesperson has also stated that the cause of this breach is as of yet unknown.
As for the others in the investigation team, they are following SpaceX's suit as well. This lack of efforts on making a detailed statement about the accident is giving rise to amateur speculation and conspiracy theories.
The fate of Falcon 9 has given rise to a massive $10 billion backlog and has put the astronaut team en route to the ISS on delay. The team is scheduled to fly sometime in 2018, 3 years after their original flight date.
There is however, nothing to be worried about as SpaceX is still showing great signs of success. The company has only faced problems in two of its 29 launches.
In the meantime, Elon Musk is busy signing up new customers for SpaceX. A thorough investigation would reveal if the said customers should be worried, or not.
