CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a much-needed load of supplies to the International Space Station exploded Sunday morning above Cape Canaveral.
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Right on schedule at 10:21 a.m. Sunday, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, with its Dragon capsule, bound for the ISS.
But then, after what appeared to be a picture-perfect launch, the Falcon 9 disintegrated 150,000 feet above earth with parts of the rocket falling into the Atlantic Ocean.
The explosion happened 148 seconds after launch.
"There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank. Data suggests counterintuitive cause," SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted.
"Something went wrong with the launch. @SpaceX is evaluating the status of the mission," NASA tweeted. "The range confirmed that the vehicle has broken up. @SpaceX is putting together their anomaly team."
"What happened today is why I hold my breath and say a little prayer every time we launch a big rocket," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) tweeted.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the astronauts aboard the space station have sufficient supplies for the next several months.
"We will work closely with SpaceX to understand what happened, fix the problem and return to flight," Bolden said. "The commercial cargo program was designed to accommodate loss of cargo vehicles. We will continue operation of the station in a safe and effective way as we continue to use it as our test bed for preparing for longer duration missions farther into the solar system."
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Bolden said the setback will not deter NASA or SpaceX from future human spaceflight endeavors.
"SpaceX has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in its first six cargo resupply missions to the station, and we know they can replicate that success. We will work with and support SpaceX to assess what happened, understand the specifics of the failure and correct it to move forward," Bolden said. "This is a reminder that spaceflight is an incredible challenge, but we learn from each success and each setback."
Scott Kelly, an astronaut aboard the space station and the brother-in-law of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, said he watched the launch.
"Space is hard," he wrote.
NASA said anyone who finds debris from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket should call 321-867-2121.
Besides food and experiments, the Dragon cargo ship ordered up by NASA held the first docking port, or parking place, for future commercial crew capsules.
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The 4,300-pound shipment was especially critical, given the space station has lost two deliveries since fall. Last April, a Russian supply ship spun out of control shortly after liftoff. In October, an Orbital Sciences cargo carrier was destroyed in a Virginia launch explosion.
NASA officials said the crew on board the ISS isn't in any danger and has enough supplies to last them through October.
SpaceX was also hoping to attempt another experimental landing of its Falcon 9 rocket booster on an unpiloted "drone ship" stationed hundreds of miles off the coast of Jacksonville. The company had planned to recover and reuse the boosters to reduce the coast of launches.
During two previous tests in January and April, the 14-story boosters hit the ship too hard and crashed. SpaceX has continued to tinker with its landing system involving four legs at the rocket's base, fins to help control its descent through the atmosphere and a series of three engine firings.
A NASA-contracted rocket named Antares exploded shortly after launch Tuesday night. The rocket was unmanned, but carrying valuable supplies for the International Space Station and is a total loss. Check out other space disasters through the years: