Beiruting News

Moments after lifting off at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, the unmanned Antares rocket meant to bring cargo to the International Space Station exploded. This was to be the third commercial resupply mission by Orbital Sciences. The explosion occurred at 6:22 pm EDT on October 28, six seconds after launching.

No injuries or deaths are believed to have occurred because of this failed launch, with all personnel at Wallops safe and accounted for.

NASA officials have described the event as a "catastrophic anomaly" but have not pointed to a cause of explosion yet. NASA reports that the team did not experience any warning signs prior to launch that there would be a problem.

The Cygnus spacecraft atop the rocket was carrying 2290 kg (5050 lbs) of cargo for the International Space Station, including the Arkyd-3 satellite. The launch was scheduled for October 27, but had to be scrubbed at the last minute due to a sail boat downrange of the launch site.