SpaceX Falcon 9 Disaster: Root Cause of Explosion Has Been Traced

Amidst numerous theories ranging from conspiracy to alien invasion, Elon Musk's startup SpaceX has finally made some headway or progress in isolating the root cause of the explosion of Falcon 9 two months ago. According to their latest statement, the answer may lie in a breach of the helium tanks' loading system.

Given that the helium loading was targeted as the main culprit, the SpaceX team is optimistic that they can replicate the conditions that caused the explosion. They are running the bulk of field tests and investigations at a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, to be able to fully determine the root cause of failure.

Prior to the devastating explosion, the SpaceX rocket was scheduled to launch last September 3 in Florida. The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station explosion at launch pad 40 last September 1 destroyed the rocket and an Amos 6 satellite payload from Israel that Facebook was tapping to improve Internet access for Africans. The SpaceX Falcon 9 disaster was quite tremendous that it also damaged ground support equipment and the strongback that held the rocket in place.

There were no human injuries in the massive explosion that looked like a fireball in the sky. But the mistake had SpaceX doubling their efforts to improve the helium loading conditions. According to the Daily Mail, they are still not totally ruling out sabotage of their components as a plausible explanation for the mysterious failure.

Prior to this Oct. 28 press statement from SpaceX, little information was provided on the explosion details. This was not the first time that a SpaceX rocket failed. There was also a recorded incident in 2015 where a SpaceX asset containing space supplies exploded a few moments after takeoff, making their record 2 failures out of 29 launch initiatives.

Along with the latest SpaceX update on Falcon 9's explosion investigation, they also expressed that they are planning to go back on track with their launch tests soon.