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A rocket SpaceX was testing just exploded on a launch pad in Florida

Sep 1, 2016, 19:00 IST

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The smoke plume billowing from SpaceX's Falcon 9 explosion on the launchpad during a test on September 1, 2016.NASA
NASAThe smoke plume billowing from SpaceX's Falcon 9 explosion on the launchpad during a test on Sept. 1, 2016.

This morning, SpaceX was reportedly scheduled to do a static test-fire of a rocket.

The 229-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket, according to one source, was not the one that is supposed to carry the SES-10 satellite into orbit later this year.

But eyewitnesses on Twitter are reporting the test ended in calamity on a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida: with a huge explosion sometime after 9 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.

Rocket engineer Ian Dawson has shared one of the closest views of the launch pad so far, which clearly shows a core of flames beneath a tower of billowing smoke:

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Scott Gustin, the national content editor for Tribune Broadcasting, also had a crisp view of the huge launch pad blaze:

One eyewitness reported the blast shook his office building:

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Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell alleges the rocket test was not the rocket that SpaceX plans to reuse for its upcoming launch of SES-10:

Users are starting to post video of the flames and smoke:

The smoke is so thick that it's showing up on local weather radar:

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Business Insider spoke with a representative at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, but she did not have any details about the explosion.

We also contacted SpaceX for details about the blast, but representatives for the aerospace company did not immediately respond.

It's unknown at this time if anyone was hurt by the incident.

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Keep checking this page; we'll update it as soon as we learn more.

Lauren Friedman and Rebecca Harrington contributed to this post.

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