No one was injured in the explosion Thursday of the $62mln rocket owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, but the disaster set back the mission to place a satellite over the equator to expand communications in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
One of the company’s uncrewed Falcon 9 rockets and a satellite were destroyed in an explosion on a launch pad in Florida.
The incident at Cape Canaveral Air Force base marks the second time in just over a year that the company has lost one of its rockets, which are far cheaper to operate than those of United Launch Alliance, its main rival for prestigious US government business.
Musk himself suffered a paper loss of about $390mln as the stock prices of two of his companies sank.
Shares of Musk's electric car maker, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA), closed 5.3% lower at $200.77 on Thursday and were on track for worst week since the UK’s Brexit poll.
Meanwhile, at SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY), where Musk is chairman, shares ended down 9.1% at $18.78.