SpaceX rocket explodes during test flight in Texas

ONE of eccentric billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets exploded after launching at a test facility, with images popping up on Twitter and videos on YouTube showing the full explosion.

ONE of eccentric billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets exploded after launching at a test facility in Texas, USA, earlier this week.

The incident was reported by users on social media, with images popping up on Twitter and videos on YouTube showing the full explosion.

#spaceX rocket blew up :( pic.twitter.com/u41286gstr

— Mandy (@EthansMommy17) August 22, 2014

Police were even called to block off a nearby road.

McGregor cops blocking road into SpaceX after reported explosion. #watchKCEN @KCENNews pic.twitter.com/0NTx3f0WNS

— Chris Davis (@KCENchris) August 23, 2014

Earlier, SpaceX confirmed the rocket termination in a statement to BuzzFeed:

“Earlier today, in McGregor, Texas, SpaceX conducted a test flight of a three engine version of the F9R test vehicle (successor to Grasshopper). During the flight, an anomaly was detected in the vehicle and the flight termination system automatically terminated the mission.

“With research and development projects, detecting vehicle anomalies during the testing is the purpose of the program. Today’s test was particularly complex, pushing the limits of the vehicle further than any previous test. As is our practice, the company will be reviewing the flight record details to learn more about the performance of the vehicle prior to our next test.”

Elon Musk also confirmed that no one was injured as a result of the incident.

Three engine F9R Dev1 vehicle auto-terminated during test flight. No injuries or near injuries. Rockets are tricky …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2014