Facebook’s $200 million Amos-6 satellite was destroyed when a SpaceX rocket exploded ahead of a planned launch from the US state of Florida, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Around 9 a.m. (1:00 p.m. GMT) on Thursday, the Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The US Air Force 45th Space Wing said there were no injuries and no threat to public safety following the incident.

“As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided so much connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent,” Zuckerberg stated.

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