The SpaceX CRS-7 resupply rocket which was scheduled to leave for the International Space Station this afternoon has broken apart, losing the craft in the process. On the live feed, the rocket smoked, before falling apart completely in a fireball, losing all cargo. Nobody was on board, however many supplies have been scattered, including two Microsoft HoloLens units.
The SpaceX Twitter account has announced that a problem occurred during the craft’s ascent:
The vehicle experienced an anomaly on ascent. Team is investigating. Updates to come.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 28, 2015
This is the first time a Falcon 9 mission has suffered a major failure. We will find out more about the launch later today at the NASA press conference at 17:30 BST/12:30 ET. It has been announced that the ISS will not hit reserve supplies until September, and more missions are scheduled beforehand.
It is currently unknown whether more HoloLens devices will be sent up to utilise NASA’s Sidekick software. If so, they will likely be sent later in the year, on another supply mission. It is a shame that this technology will not be tested earlier, especially with HoloLens still in its early stages of development. The headsets will be used to help those in space become more independent from Earth, by using holographic assets and illustrations from ground crews, back on the surface. This will allow those on the station to perform experiments and tasks with help from experts.
Watch the CRS-7 launch and collapse here:
Matt was a regular ICXM contributor in 2015, publishing 110 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @RTEnvi.