A Nasa rocket due to be visible across the East Coast on its way to the International Space Station has blown up on the launchpad.
The rocket exploded six seconds after liftoff from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia.
Engineers said there were no problems reported before the launch, and say they have 'no early indications' of what went wrong.
Conditions for the launch were perfect - but as it left the launchpad, the rocket appeared to explode.
Officials said there were no casualties from the explosion -and the damage was contained to the launch facility.
'This is a tough evening,' said Frank Culberston of Orbital Sciences, which is working with the FAA to investigate the explosion..
'We want to express our disappointment, especially to the researchers who had science on board.
'It's not as tragic as losing a life - and we are happy to report there were no injuries.
'Something went wrong, and we will find out what that it - and we will come back here and fly again in the near future.'
He also urged the public to stay away from debris.
'This is an accident site, it is a rocket.
'People should not be collecting souvenirs.'
Culbertson said the team were yet to analyse the video of the explosion.
'What we know so far is what people saw on the video.
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WHERE WAS IT GOING? Antares was due to launch an unmanned Orbital-3 Cygnus spacecraft to deliver more than 5,000lbs of supplies to the International Space Station - including science experiments, experiment hardware, spare parts, and crew provisions - as part of a $1.9billion deal with NASA.
Outfitted with a new, more powerful upper-stage engine, the Antares rocket was packed with 5,055 pounds (2,293 kg) of supplies, science experiments and equipment, a 15 percent increase over previous missions.
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'We don't really have any early indications of what might have failed.
'Most of this happened in the first 20 seconds - it was quite quick.
'We observed the problem, and the destruct command was sent before the rocket hit the ground.'
Orbital also say there appeared to be no issues before the launch.
'There was failure on launch,' NASA spokesman Jay Bolden said.
'There was no indicated loss of life.
Bolden added, 'There was significant property and vehicle damage. Mission control is trying to assess what went wrong.'
Nasa staff were working to secure the area, and to collect data from the craft as an major investigation in to the explosion began.
'NASA and Orbital Sciences Corp. are gathering data on the failure of the Orbital CRS-3 six seconds after launch,' a Nasa official said.
'The Orbital Sciences team is executing its contingency procedures, securing the site and data, including all telemetry from the Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft.
Orbital Sciences stock fell 12.7 percent after hours on news of the explosion, down $3.87 per share at $26.50.
The spacecraft was carrying 'some classified cryptographic equipment, so we do need to maintain the area around the debris in a secure manner,' said Mike Pinkston, the company's Antares program manager.
'Before launch the Orbital team was not tracking any issues.
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WHAT IT WAS CARRYING
Nasa's official mission manifest, detailing exactly what was being carried onboard
Outfitted with a new, more powerful upper-stage engine, the Antares rocket was packed with 5,055 pounds (2,293 kg) of supplies, science experiments and equipment, a 15 percent increase over previous missions.
In addition to food, supplies and equipment, the Cygnus spacecraft was loaded with more than 1,600 pounds (725 kg) of science experiments, including an investigation to chemically analyze meteors as they burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
The Cygnus also carried a prototype satellite owned by Redmond, Washington-based startup Planetary Resources Inc., which is developing technology to mine asteroids. The satellite, designated A3, was to be released into space by a commercially owned small spacecraft launcher aboard the station.
NASA spokesman Rob Navias said there was nothing urgently needed by the space station crew on that flight.
In fact, the Russian Space Agency was proceeding with its own supply run on Wednesday.
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Mike Suffredini, Nasa's ISS programme manager, said 'We keep enough on board to keep going for 4-6 months.
'From a consumables standpoint, we are in good shape - and tomorrow morning a Russian cargo vehicle will launch to ISS.
'The crew were disappointed, but they are continuing on with their tasks.'
'SpaceX also has a flight on December 9th. we lost some spares we'll have to replace - but the station is in great shape.'
However, Suffredini admitted the space agency would now juggle the items being taken by SpaceX.
Bill Wrobel of Nasa said 'Preliminary reports show damage was contained to the south of Wallops Island.
'There is a possiblity of debris washing up on beaches in the area.'
The space agency aid it was letting the fires of rocket propellant in the area burn themselves out.
'No injuries have been reported, and Orbital reports that all personnel around the Wallops Flight Facility launch site have been accounted for.'
The launch director confirmed that all personnel we accounted for, meaning there were no injuries.
It appeared the launch pad suffered serious damage from the explosion, raising fears future launches could be affected.
NASA spokesman Rob Navias said there was nothing urgently needed by the space station crew on that flight.
In fact, the Russian Space Agency was proceeding with its own supply run on Wednesday.
Mission controllers were calm throughout the explosion, calmly telling staff 'Launch team, launch team, be advised, stay at your consoles.'
'This has been a lot of hard work to get to this point,'Orbital Sciences Executive Vice President Frank Culbertson told the launch team just before liftoff.
It was the second attempt to launch the craft.
including science experiments, experiment hardware, spare parts, and crew provisions - as part of a $1.9billion deal with NASA.
Cygnus was to loiter in orbit until Nov. 2, then fly itself to the station so astronauts can use a robotic crane to snare the capsule and attach it to a berthing port.
The station, a $100 billion research laboratory owned and operated by 15 nations, flies about 260 miles (418 km) above Earth.
Operators were forced to abandon the first attempt at a launch last night, despite perfect weather conditions, because a boat appeared in a 'hazard area' nearby.
'We're aborting today's launch attempt due to a boat downrange in the hazard area,' the space agency said.
'We will make another #Antares launch attempt tomorrow, Tuesday, October 28 at 6:19 p.m. EDT,' Orbital tweeted soon after.
The rocket had been due take off from a launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia.
Its flight would have been visible from Massachusetts all the way to South Carolina, weather permitting.
The mission represents the fifth launch of the company's Antares rocket in its first 18 months of operations, according to Space.com.
NASA is paying for the delivery service. The space agency hired two companies — the Virginia-based Orbital Sciences and California's SpaceX — to keep the space station well stocked once the shuttle program ended.
The two-stage Antares rocket uses a liquid-fueled first stage powered by two engines and a solid motor ATK CASTOR 30XL upper stage to boost Cygnus into orbit.
The plan - if successful - sees the powered launch sequence will last about nine and a half minutes from liftoff through the separation of Cygnus module from the rocket.
Antares ditches its first stage once it has burnt all its fuel, just under 240 seconds after launch, followed by a 47-second coasting phase.
The ignition of the second stage will begin 4 minutes 41 seconds after takeoff, and it will burn for 166 seconds before the Cygnus capsule separates from the second stage.
The unmanned spacecraft will then use its own engines to continue on to the ISS.
Under a $1.9billion contract with NASA, Orbital Sciences will use Antares and Cygnus to deliver up to 44,000lbs of cargo to the ISS over eight missions, including the mission currently under way, through late 2016.
...culled from THE DAILYMAIL
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