updates
AMOS-6 static-fire explosion and the COPV finding
On September 1, 2016, a Falcon 9 was destroyed during a static fire at SLC-40. SpaceX later traced it to a helium COPV in the upper-stage oxygen tank and targeted a January 8 return to flight.
Topics: space-civilization
This page is an original Muskularity summary. It does not republish SpaceX’s full post. Figures are the company’s statements on the cited date unless another primary link is named.
Summary
At 9:07 a.m. ET on September 1, 2016, during a pre-launch static fire for the AMOS-6 mission, Falcon 9 and its payload were lost at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40. SpaceX led the investigation under its FAA-approved plan, with the FAA, the Air Force, NASA, the NTSB, and industry experts participating. The data window was 93 milliseconds from the first bad reading to loss of the second stage. Investigators used more than 3,000 channels of video and telemetry, plus ground video, umbilical data, and debris, and ran tests in Hawthorne and at McGregor.
The finding: one of three composite overwrapped pressure vessels inside the second-stage liquid-oxygen tank failed. Those vessels hold cold helium that keeps the tanks pressurized. Each has an aluminum liner and a carbon overwrap. Recovered vessels showed buckled liners. Buckles alone had not been shown to burst a vessel. The team concluded that super-chilled oxygen could pool in a buckle under the overwrap, and that helium loaded cold enough to freeze oxygen made trapped oxygen and friction ignition more likely. Several credible causes all ran through that oxygen or solid-oxygen accumulation. Short-term fixes: load warmer helium, and return to a loading setup already used on more than 700 successful COPV loads. Longer term: redesign the vessels so the liners do not buckle, which would also allow faster loading. Return to flight was targeted for January 8 from Vandenberg SLC-4E with Iridium NEXT.
Key facts
| Fact | Label |
|---|---|
| September 1, 2016, 9:07 a.m. ET, SLC-40; vehicle and AMOS-6 payload lost | Company accident report |
| 93 milliseconds from first anomalous data to loss of the second stage | Company investigation timeline |
| Probable mechanism: oxygen trapped in a buckled COPV liner, then ignition | Company investigation finding |
| Return to flight targeted for January 8 from Vandenberg with Iridium NEXT | Company target at the time of the report |
Why it matters
This is the oldest post in the archive, and it is a ground failure of the operational rocket, not a Starship test. The COPV acronym returns, for a different vessel and a different failure, in the 2025 Ship 36 loss. The January 8 Iridium date is a target stated in the report, not a confirmation in this page that the launch happened that morning.
On this site
Sources
- SpaceX update, September 1, 2016 — Grade A, company accident report
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