Yesterday the launch of the Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket was postponed. Sadly, tonight the unmanned rocket exploded about 6 seconds into liftoff. No one was hurt. The rocket was carrying a Cygnus spacecraft, which was headed to the International Space Station.

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.

A big loss for all of the lost property, both science related and otherwise. Turns out going to space is hard.

Oh my! A reminder that space is incredibly difficult. #Antares http://t.co/l23VNEtccd

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Bobak Ferdowsi (@tweetsoutloud) October 28, 2014

Cygnus ORB-3 spacecraft, with cubesats RACE, Arkyd-3, and 26 @planetlabs Flock-1d satellites all destroyed. Condolences to all involved.

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Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) October 28, 2014

Antares launch explosion – October 28, 2014 – The launch occurred on schedule at 1822 ET from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. It was the third U.S. commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station by Orbital Sciences Corp.
NASA says no personnel were injured in the explosion but the launch pad suffered major damage.