DALE AMON LIVEBLOGGED the SpaceX Falcon launch. Bottom line is in this statement from Elon Musk: “It was obviously a big disappointment not to reach orbit on this flight. On the plus side, the flight of our first stage, with the new Merlin 1C engine that will be used in Falcon 9, was picture perfect. Unfortunately, a problem occurred with stage separation, causing the stages to be held together. This is under investigation and I will send out a note as soon as we understand exactly what happened.”
It’s okay, as long as they learn from it. So often, it’s not the big high-profile parts that fail, but things like frozen oxygen valves or failed stage-separations.