On the morning of September 1, just before a routine pre-flight ignition test, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded. In an instant, the 277 foot-tall space vehicle and its $200 million satellite cargo disappeared into a ball of flames.

SpaceX has been fairly mum with details on what went wrong last month on Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Which makes sense. But, considering it is SpaceX's second launch failure in 15 months, the explosion is a more tangible measure of the company's future than its highly-publicized (and hypothetical) plan to settle Mars. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the problem may have been operational—rather than a manufacturing or design flaw of the rocket itself. But that does not mean the case is that simple. Nothing involving rockets ever is.

The investigation itself is a collaborative effort between SpaceX, the FAA, NASA, the US Air Force, and industry experts. Together, they are looking at over 3,000 channels of engineering data, along with video, audio and imagery, the company said. Early rumors speculated that SpaceX was worried about potential sabotage by rival space firms, and were reviewing images of strange shadow on a building next to the launch site . But mostly, the investigation has focused on the second stage liquid oxygen tank.

Or more specifically, on the cryogenic helium system inside the liquid oxygen tank. Basically, this is the fuel that would have helped the Falcon 9's cargo—an Amos-6 communications satellite—maneuver from Low Earth Orbit into Geostationary Transfer Orbit. But even that level of detail masks a confounding number of possibilities.