SpaceX rocket explodes on launch pad - and blows up a key Facebook plan, too

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An explosion on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is shown in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US September 1, 2016.

Published: 3:00am, 2 Sep 2016Updated: 7:52am, 2 Sep 2016

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg 's mission to connect the world just got harder.

Elon Musk 's SpaceX rocket was supposed to deliver Facebook's first satellite into orbit — a satellite leased in partnership with French Eutelsat from Israeli-based Spacecom for $95 million for five years. But that plan ended when the rocket blew up on the launch pad early Thursday morning at Cape Canaveral, Florida. (No one was hurt.)

The Amos-6 communication satellite was designed to provide Wi-Fi connectivity to sub-Saharan Africa, opening up a whole new swathe of the world to Facebook and other internet companies. Facebook's users in the region number around 84 million.

The incident delivered a major setback to both Musk and Zuckerberg, as Internet.org is one of Facebook's most ambitious projects.

"We are disappointed by the loss but remain committed to our mission of connecting people to the Internet around the world," a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The good news is that Spacecom reportedly purchased insurance on behalf of Eutelsat and Facebook covering project-related risks including the satellite's launch and first year of orbit.

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