The blast, which shook buildings and windows miles away, occurred shortly after 9am and destroyed Facebook's $200million Amos-6 satellite that was set to launch on Saturday morning aboard the reusable rocket.
Billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the cause of the massive blast - which caused no injuries - is still unknown as the accident throws into question the future of his program of subcontracting his 'reusable' and 'recycled' rockets to NASA.
The satellite would have opened up free internet to more than 14 countries in Africa to serve the most populated areas more efficiently.
The test was in advance of Saturday's planned launch from from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is next to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, of an Israeli-made communications satellite.
SpaceX can confirm that in preparation for today's static fire, there was an anomaly on the pad resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload. Per standard procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.