The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded shortly after takeoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday. While the Dragon spacecraft that was attached to Falcon 9 was only carrying cargo for delivery to the International Space Station, there is a Crew Dragon designed to bring astronauts into space. SpaceX is planning its first manned mission in 2017.

 

The Falcon 9 is powered through a two-stage process. SpaceX is investigating the cause of the failure but announced that there was a problem shortly before the first stage shutdown.