SpaceX's Plan To Fuel Rockets With Astronauts Aboard Raises Safety Concerns

American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX has reportedly proposed to fuel its rockets with people aboard. The move has been deemed as a safety risk by a team of space industry experts that advises American space agency NASA. The team's concern heightened in the wake of SpaceX rocket Falcon 9's explosion on September 1 when it was being fueled. The cause of the unmanned rocket's blast accident is still being investigated.

"This is a hazardous operation," said Thomas Stafford, a former NASA astronaut and Chairman of the Space Station Advisory Committee. "Everybody there, and particularly the people who had experience over the years, said nobody is ever near the pad when they fuel a booster." The rockets that carry astronauts to space are usually fuelled before the passengers get to the launch pad. Incidentally, the team that advices NASA comprises of eight members, including veterans of NASA's Apollo, Gemini and space shuttle programs.

As per reports, SpaceX needs the approval of NASA for its proposed launch system before the procedure can be put into action. The company which is owned and run by Elon Musk has said that it has spent 18 months analyzing possible dangers and how to handle them, and is developing its human launch operations with cooperation from NASA. Moreover, as per the statements made by the company, it is going to re-evaluate the rocket fueling system and launch processes on the basis of the accident's investigation results.

On its part, the American space agency is going to continue its evaluation of SpaceX's plan for fueling the Falcon 9 for the purpose of commercial crew launches. The evaluation will also be based on the outcome of Falcon 9's explosion investigation. Incidentally, SpaceX is expected to fly passenger spaceships in 2018, and the vehicles will supposedly include an emergency escape system capsule that will fly away from a failed rocket before or during launch.