Advertisement

Faulty helium tank system caused rocket explosion: Space X

What caused this fault to occur is still unknown and under continued investigation

Faulty helium tank system caused rocket explosion: Space X

New Delhi: After about three weeks of the disastrous Falcon 9 explosion, Space X finally breaks its silence over the unfortunate event. On its official website, Space X posted that the rocket explosion was likely caused by a large breach in the helium pressurization system of the rocket during a routined pre-launch test that turned into explosion.

“At this stage of the investigation, preliminary review of the data and debris suggests that a large breach in the cryogenic helium system of the second stage liquid oxygen tank took place,” SpaceX said in a statement posted on its website on Friday. "All plausible causes are being tracked in an extensive fault tree and carefully investigated. Through the fault tree and data review process, we have exonerated any connection with last year's CRS-7 mishap."

What caused this fault to occur is still unknown and under continued investigation. The accident investigation team includes Space X, NASA, the US Air Force and others who are dealing with 3,000 channels of photos and videos to figure out the root cause of the mishap.

The company has also clarified that September 1 explosion is not related with the cause of the rocket failure that occurred in 2015.