SpaceX's next-generation rocket engine exploded during a key test on Saturday

[TexasTowelie]

Despite blowing up an experimental upgrade to its go-to rocket engines, SpaceX says it can continue its record-setting year.

The aerospace company, founded by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, has pulled off 16 rocket launches in 2017. That's double SpaceX's launch count from last year and a frequency rivaling that of its biggest competitors.

What's more, SpaceX hopes to lift off three more of its Falcon 9 rockets — a reusable launch vehicle that's poised to significantly lower the cost of access to space (and maybe save humankind) — before the year's end.

But as Christian Davenport first reported for the Washington Post on Wednesday, an explosion rocked SpaceX's development facility in McGregor, Texas, over the weekend.

Read more: http://www.nhregister.com/technology/businessinsider/article/SpaceX-s-next-generation-rocket-engine-exploded-12343322.php

[byronius]

1. Sometimes Elon makes me think of Heinlein's character D.D. Harriman, driven to die on the moon.

He's breaking some eggs, making that omelette. Not particularly insecure or crazy, just fascinated with design and systems. He's got a complex picture in his head that he wants to make come true.

He's important. As important as Jobs or Gates or any of them. Maybe more so, because his dreams include a hefty dose of wanting to Help the Human Condition.