A ROCKET has exploded at Cape Canaveral space centre - blowing up Facebook's £150million internet satellite.

NASA says SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its pioneering unmanned rocket when disaster struck.

A series of explosions sent smoke and flames shooting through the sky and shook buildings miles away.

The blast took with it Facebook's first satellite costing the company a whopping £150 million.

14 Shocking new footage shows the moment the rocket exploded moments before take off

14 An explosion rips through the giant rocket as it sits ready for lift-off

14 And it is quickly engulfed in a huge fireball as years of work towards providing satellite communication in sub-Saharan Africa go up in flames

14 The entire rocket is soon decimated by a gigantic explosion that rips through the facility

14 Fire and smoke could be seen billowing from the launch pad as the SpaceX rocket exploded

The social media giant's devastated founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "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."

SpaceX - founded by PayPal and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk - confirmed there was an anomaly on the launch pad which resulted in the loss of the rocket and its payload.

The Israeli made Amos-6 communications satellite was, according to Tech Crunch, carrying technology to allow Zuckerberg's firm to spot beam wireless internet directly to smartphones in sub-Saharan Africa.

The social media company was working in conjunction with a French satellite provider named Eutelsat to lease the communication array for five years.

It had roped in Israeli company SpaceCom - whose stocks fell nine per cent at the news - to operate the broadcast and telecoms satellite.

The first explosion occurred shortly before 9am with a second blast following about 20 minutes later.

14 The rocket was supposed to hoist an Israeli communications satellite this weekend

14 The Israeli made Amos-6 satellite (pictured) was carrying technology to allow Facebook to provide wireless internet directly to smartphones in sub-Saharan Africa Credit: SpaceCom

Buildings several miles away shook from the blast and multiple explosions continued for several minutes. A cloud of dark smoke filled the overcast sky.

The test, considered routine, was in advance of a planned Saturday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Additional details were not immediately available. But sirens could be heard in the aftermath.

NASA SpaceX's major customer said the explosion occurred at Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force station, and Kennedy emergency staff was on standby.

At the same time, personnel were monitoring the air for any toxic fumes.

The rocket was supposed to hoist an Israeli communications satellite this weekend which reports suggest was set to carry technology for Facebook into orbit.

The Amos-6 satellite had amongst its functions the capability for the social media company to spot-beam broadband for their Internet.org initiative.

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The initiative's aim is to spread internet around the globe and its website states: "The internet is essential to growing the knowledge we have and sharing it with each other.

"And for many of us, it’s a huge part of our everyday lives. But most of the world does not have access to the internet.

"Internet.org is a Facebook-led initiative with the goal of bringing internet access and the benefits of connectivity to the two-thirds of the world that doesn‘t have them.

"Imagine the difference an accurate weather report could make for a farmer planting crops, or the power of an encyclopedia for a child without textbooks.

"Now, imagine what they could contribute when the world can hear their voices. The more we connect, the better it gets."

14 An image from the NASA live camera shows a fire raging on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Credit: NASA

14 Smoke could be seen billowing across the sky after the blast

14 A fire burns on the launch pad after the explosion at Cape Canaveral Credit: INSTAGRAM / runswithwine

14 Buildings several miles away shook from the blast and multiple explosions continued for several minutes

Blown to bits: Mark Zuckerberg's dream of bringing web to Sub-Saharan Africa The £150million satellite that blew up was part of Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's dream of delivering internet to Sub-Saharan Africa. The Israeli-made Amos-6 was carrying technology that could spot beam wireless internet directly to smartphones. The social media company was working in conjunction with a French satellite provider named Eutelsat to lease the communication array for five years. It was due to be sent into space by SpaceX - a US aerospace firm founded by PayPal and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk. Devastated Zuckerberg said: "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."

The initial blast sounded like lightning, but was followed by the sounds of more explosions.

SpaceX is one of two companies shipping supplies to the space station for NASA.

It's also working on a crew capsule to ferry station U.S. astronauts; that first flight was supposed to come as early as next year.

Two NASA astronauts were conducting a spacewalk 250 miles up, outside the International Space Station, when the explosion occurred.

Mission Control did not immediately advise them of the accident.

Before all launches, Space X conducts a static fire test in which the engines are turned on while the rocket is restrained.

The California-based company, led by billionaire Elon Musk, had been ramping up with frequent launches to make up for a backlog created by a launch accident in June 2015.

SpaceX was leasing the pad from the Air Force for its Falcon launches.

The company is also redoing a former shuttle pad at Kennedy for future manned flights for NASA.

People took to twitter reporting loud explosions with fire and buildings shaking with the force of the blast.

The rocket was scheduled to launch an Israeli satellite into orbit this weekend.

14 Space X founder Elon Musk has been trying to launch reusable rockets to further space travel Credit: Getty Images

14 A previous Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Credit: AP:Associated Press

14 The rocket's trail lit up the sky above the launch site when it successfully launched last month Credit: AP:Associated Press

Emergency services raced to the scene after the blast shortly before 9am local time.

A spokesperson told WFTV the explosion was a "catastrophic abort during a static test fire" and there is "no threat to the general public".

The company was conducting a test fire of the rocket ahead of its launch.

The 23-story-high Falcon 9 rocket is hoped to be the future of space exploration ideally allowing for reusable rockets.

Paving the way to the colonisation of Mars: What is SpaceX and what are its plans? Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, better known as SpaceX, is a US aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California.

It was founded in 2002 by former PayPal entrepreneur and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk with the goal of creating the technologies to reduce space transportation costs and enable the eventual colonisation of Mars.

It has developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles, both designed to be reusable, and the Dragon spacecraft which is flown into orbit by the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with cargo.

A manned version of Dragon is in development.

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