--- description: Elon Musk's SpaceX will try again on Saturday to land a rocket on a barge in the ocean title: SpaceX Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebaa397c817dc514/698858c35f570f1053b1c38b/spacex-explosion.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [A Year In Space](/tag/a-year-in-space/) ## A Year In Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # SpaceX Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch ## Video: A Year in Space: The Mission [Watch (HLS stream): A Year in Space: The Mission](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gEqrnCPI.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2015-03-24. On March 28, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly begins a historic year in Space. Time follows Kelly and his twin brother, Mark, as they work the test the boundaries of long-term space travel._  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:46 AM CUTPublished: Jun 28, 2015 2:09 PM CUT  NASA  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:46 AM CUTPublished: Jun 28, 2015 2:09 PM CUT A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule broke up shortly after launch on a mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Sunday morning. The failure is the latest setback for SpaceX’s program to transport astronauts to the space station. > [](https://twitter.com/NASA/status/615163915547316224) The shipment was carrying more than 4,000 pounds of cargo, including food for astronauts, spare parts and an adapter built to allow future manned missions to dock at the space station. The adapter, which weighs more than 1,000 pounds by itself, was built by Boeing and plays an essential role in the government’s plan to send astronauts to space via manned rockets instead of shuttles. The astronauts have enough supplies to survive past September and two more shipments are scheduled to arrive before they would need to revert to reserves. The company, founded by billionaire PayPal founder Elon Musk, had tried twice before to guide the rocket, which is only in use for a few minutes following launch, back to a barge where it could be safely collected, but both prior attempts had ended in failure. Collecting the rocket after launch would have been a significant advance, but instead the company will be dealing with a significant setback to its efforts to pioneer privatized space flight. SpaceX and Boeing both have contracts with NASA to develop a rocket to take astronauts to the space station. The cause of the mission failure was not immediately clear, and Musk said on Twitter that his company would “review the data” and provide updates. Video shows the craft smoking and then exploding just a few minutes after launch. Astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly had been slated to install the adapter during their first-ever spacewalk. TIME is following the historic yearlong mission to the International Space Station. See a trailer for _A Year in Space_ [here.](http://time.com/space "undefined") > [](https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/615169254392856576) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3939166/spacex-rocket-explode/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3939166/spacex-rocket-explode/"},"headline":"SpaceX Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch","datePublished":"2015-06-28T14:09:21.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T05:46:49.000Z","description":"\"And the range has confirmed, the vehicle has broken up\"","url":"https://time.com/3939166/spacex-rocket-explode/","keywords":["A Year In Space","Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebaa397c817dc514/698858c35f570f1053b1c38b/spacex-explosion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebaa397c817dc514/698858c35f570f1053b1c38b/spacex-explosion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"spacex explosion","caption":"spacex explosion","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/a-year-in-space/","name":"A Year In Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3939166/spacex-rocket-explode/","name":"SpaceX Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Year in Space: The Mission","description":"On March 28, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly begins a historic year in Space. 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