FalconSat 2

Omelek Island is a dot of coral in Kwajalein Atoll, reachable from the main island by a twenty-minute boat ride. On 24 March 2006, SpaceX attempted to launch the first Falcon 1 from its concrete pad there, carrying FalconSat-2 — a 19.5 kg plasma-research satellite built by students at the United States Air Force Academy.

The vehicle lifted off and thirty-three seconds into the flight, a corroded aluminum nut on the fuel pump inlet line failed, feeding a fire at the base of the engine. The rocket lost thrust and fell back onto the atoll, coming to rest near the pad. FalconSat-2 was recovered from the reef, intact enough to be examined but too damaged to fly again.

For SpaceX, the outcome was a bill, an investigation, and a lesson in the particular corrosiveness of salt air on aluminum. The company returned to Omelek less than a year later.