MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - A Falcon 9R carrier rocket testbed, a modified version of a Falcon 9 rocket's first stage, has exploded during a test flight in McGregor, Texas, according to NBC channel.
"During the flight, an anomaly was detected in the vehicle and the flight termination system automatically terminated the mission," said John Taylor, a spokesman for SpaceX, the company that developed the Falcon 9 launch system.
The rocket exploded shortly after launch and stayed in the designated testing area. No injuries were reported.
SpaceX claimed that Falcon 9 carrier rockets are the cheapest in the industry, with a cost of $56-77 million per launch to low Earth orbit. Russian launch vehicle Proton launch cost $100 million, while the cost of European Ariane 5 rocket launch is $200 million.
