SpaceX blames Falcon 9 failure on faulty strut

Firm expects to return to flying by the end of the year

Private US aerospace company SpaceX has blamed the catastrophic failure of its Falcon 9 rocket on a 'faulty strut' in a liquid oxygen tank.

The Falcon 9 exploded on 28 June about two minutes after take off from Cape Canaveral. The rocket was carrying its Dragon cargo spacecraft on a supply mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX said an investigation of the incident found Falcon 9 experienced an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank initiated by a flawed strut.  The failed strut was designed and material certified to handle 10,000lbs of force, but failed at 2,000lbs. The company said detailed photographs of stage construction show no visible flaws or damage of any kind.

The company said: “We will no longer use these particular struts for flight applications. In addition, we will implement additional hardware quality audits throughout the vehicle to further ensure all parts received perform as expected per their certification documentation.”

“While the CRS-7 loss is regrettable, this review process invariably will, in the end, yield a safer and more reliable launch vehicle for all of our customers, including NASA, the United States Air Force, and commercial purchasers of launch services. Critically, the vehicle will be even safer as we begin to carry US astronauts to the International Space Station in 2017,” SpaceX added.

The company expect to return to flight in the autumn and resume flying by end of year.