1 September 2016 07:51 pm
The cause of the blast is not clear and it is not known if anyone was hurt.
NASA said SpaceX was test-firing a rocket which was due to take a satellite into space this weekend.
Pictures from the scene show a huge plume of smoke rising above the Cape Canaveral complex.
The force of the blast shook buildings several miles away. Local emergency officials described the incident as a "catastrophic abort during a static test fire".
In a tweet, the Brevard County Emergency Management Office said there was no threat to the public.
SpaceX is seeking to create a new era of reusable rockets and affordable private space travel and has used its Falcon-9 rocket to take supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).
In April, the California-based company successfully landed a Falcon-9 on an ocean platform, after four previous attempts failed.