Aug 5 1981
From The Space Library
Press reports said that test firing of a rocket built by Space Services Inc. (SSI) seeking to be the first private company to launch satellites for profit, ended with an explosion on the launching pad while 18 of its crew watched.
The 53-foot Percheron [see July 23] broke into four major parts, costing the firm more than $1.2 million and delaying the project at least six months. Flight plans had called for the rocket to climb to 14,500-feet and drop into the Gulf of Mexico about three miles from the site. (NY Times, Aug 6/81, B-7, W Star, Aug 6/81, A-8)
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