NASA has 'full confidence' in SpaceX after Saturday's 'mishap'

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft rolled out to Launch Complex 39A and went vertical for a dry run to prep for the upcoming Demo-1 flight test — the first test flight of NASA’s commercial crew program meant to eventually take humans to the International Space Station. The vehicle initially was supposed to launch Jan. 17, but that date has been delayed until February so that more tests can be run. It doesn’t help that the government has been shutdown since Dec. 22, either. less The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft rolled out to Launch Complex 39A and went vertical for a dry run to prep for the upcoming Demo-1 flight test — the first test flight of NASA’s ... more Photo: Credit: SpaceX, NASA / Credit: SpaceX, NASA Photo: Credit: SpaceX, NASA / Credit: SpaceX, NASA Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close NASA has 'full confidence' in SpaceX after Saturday's 'mishap' 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NASA officials say they have "full confidence" in SpaceX after the module being built to take humans to the International Space Station appeared to blow up during engine testing Saturday in Florida.

The incident makes it even more likely that the U.S. will not be able to launch its own astronauts to the space station until next year, particularly when coupled with Boeing's announcement earlier this month that its test flights would be delayed several months.

POTENTIAL DELAY: SpaceX commercial crew vehicle appears to blow up during a test

NASA has relied on Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station since the space shuttle program was shuttered in 2011 at a cost of $82 million per seat.

Both NASA and SpaceX are investigating the incident -- now being called a "mishap" -- and say they still don't know how it will impact the company's flight schedule. But experts say it will definitely cause delays.

"Safety is a top priority for NASA and our commercial providers," said Stephanie Martin, an agency spokeswoman, in a statement. "We will work with our partners to fly our crew members when their systems are ready."

Details still are scant about what happened during the capsule's engine tests this weekend and the company still has not said in an explosion occurred.

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But an image captured by Florida Today photographer Craig Bailey on Saturday afternoon showed orange plumes rising from the SpaceX facilities at Cape Canaveral and an unconfirmed video online ostensibly shows the vehicle blowing up on the test stand. No one was injured.

In 2014, NASA awarded SpaceX and Boeing contracts totaling $6.8 billion to build commercial crew vehicles as a means to alleviate the country's dependence on Russia. Both companies, however, failed to meet their schedule deadlines to launch in 2018.

Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.