A supply rocket that was slated to deliver supplies to the International Space Station exploded tonight, seconds after taking off from its launch pad on Wallops Island, Virginia.

The Antares rocket was carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, with 4,483 pounds of supplies and equipment, including 1,360 pounds of food for astronauts manning the ISS.

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In an initial report, NASA said the explosion caused significant damage to the launch facility and the vehicle, but no personnel injuries nor casualties have been reported.

The launch was postponed Monday when security units observed a boat that was too close to the "hazard zone" near the launch site.

Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Virginia, which operates the supply rockets under a US$1.9 billion contract with NASA, said in a Tweet that there has been "a vehicle anomaly. We will update as soon as we are able." Orbital provides the launch vehicle and cargo spacecraft and NASA runs the range operations.

This was supposed to be Orbital Sciences' third resupply mission to the ISS.

 The explosion apparently damaged important science cargo that Cygnus was to transport to the space station. Among these were a study to enable the first space-based observations of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere, and a multitude of student investigations covering topics such as the effects of microgravity on plant growth and the rates of milk spoilage in space.

The cargo also included international research including a study to determine how blood flows from the brain to the heart in the absence of gravity.

The supply spacecraft was scdeduled to berth with the ISS early on Nov. 2.

On Monday evening, a sailboat about 26 feet long was observed entering the launch hazard zone, as the launch countdown was beginning. The "hazard area" for the launch is about 1,400 square miles off the coast of Wallops Island along the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

NASA reported that radar aircraft "detected the boat and hailed it several times," but there was no response.

"A spotter plane made multiple passes around the boat at low altitudes using commonly understood signals such as wing waving to establish contact. However, the operator did not respond," NASA said in a statement.

NASA is scheduled to hold a press conference by 8 p.m. Tuesday.