The rocket that was launched from Kodiak’s Spaceport Tuesday afternoon fell shortly after ignition. Rocket’s creator confirmed the damage to the spaceport.
ABL Space Systems confirmed that the RS-1 rocket suffered an anomaly while it was lifted off from the Kodiak Pacific Spaceport. The rocket did not reach orbit because all nine engines were shut down prematurely. The company stated that the rocket “impacted the pad” and “was destroyed”.
Around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a black plume of smoke rose from the vicinity of the Narrow Cape spaceport complex. This was just after the rocket’s scheduled takeoff time of 2 :27 p.m.
A spokesperson for ABL stated via email that all personnel at the complex are safe, but there is damage to their launch facility. Twitter confirmed that the fires had subsided at the complex as of Tuesday evening (9:00 p.m.).
Twitter also stated that this was not the outcome that we expected, but one we had prepared for. When more information becomes available, we’ll send you an update. We appreciate your support.
ABL stated that it was going through its procedures for handling anomalies in coordination with the Pacific Spaceport Complex (PSC) and the Federal Aviation Administration.
This would have been ABL’s first successful launch its RS-1 rocket – the company has been trying since the fall to launch from Kodiak Pacific Spaceport Complex.
