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.

Fire erupts from SpaceX rocket after explosion at Cape Canaveral space centre

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

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 Mark 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.

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

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.

Explosion at Cape Canaveral space centre during test fire of SpaceX rocket

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.

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."

The £150million satellite that blew up was part of Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's dream of delivering internet to Sub-Saharan Africa.

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