Facebook satellite destroyed as Zuckerberg expresses dissapointment

A communications satellite for Facebook billed to be launched on Saturday has been destroyed on the launch pad.

The satellite was destroyed when the rocket which carried the satellite as its payload, exploded on its launch pad the BBC reports.

Experts said the Amos-6 satellite was valued at more than $200m (£150m).

The rocket, operated by the aerospace company, SpaceX exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral where it was being test-fired ahead of a launch.

BBC reports that the force shook a lot of building miles away, however, according to a statement by the company, nobody had been injured in the blast.

The company blamed the blast on “an anomaly”.

Facebook, in partnership with Eutelsat Communications, had been due to use the Israeli-built Amos-6 satellite to deliver broadband internet coverage for swathes of sub-Saharan Africa as part of its Internet.org initiative.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, while still on official tour to Africa, expressed “deep disappointment” on the destruction of the satellite.