Source: YouTube/Dennis Kapatos
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 1 (UPI/Gephardt Daily) — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded in a “catastrophic abort” during a test firing of the engines on the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday morning.
In a tweet released just before 9 a.m. Mountain Time, SpaceX stated that the explosion was related to a pad abnormality rather than the actual rocket, and that no one was hurt.
The the unmanned rocket 
exploded during a static test firing, officials said. The rocket was expected to launch a satellite this weekend.
“There is NO threat to general public from catastrophic abort during static test fire at SpaceX launch pad at CCAFS this morning,” the Brevard County Emergency Operations Center tweeted.
Witnesses said there were at least three explosions. The initial explosion happened about 7:15 a.m. Mountain Time. Local television station WFTV live-streamed the smoke billowing from the site.
The explosion was so strong it shook buildings several miles away. A dark cloud of smoke filled the sky.
A Twitter user posted a photograph of the scene, at 7:20 a.m. saying: “Wow, SpaceX rocket just blew up on pad. Shook our whole bldg.”
