Elon Musk's SpaceX likely will be grounded for nine to 12 months while it investigates the cause of last week's launch pad accident and makes repairs, the chief executive of SpaceX's prime U.S. competitor said on Thursday.
"It typically takes nine to 12 months for people to return to flight. That's what the history is," Tory Bruno, chief executive of United Launch Alliance, said.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster exploded on the launch pad on Sept. 1 as it was being fueled for a routine pre-launch test. A $200 million Israeli communications satellite was destroyed in the blast, the second failed mission for technology entrepreneur Elon Musk's privately owned SpaceX in 14 months.