An unmanned Antares rocket from Orbital Sciences Corporation exploded and crashed during its launch from NASA's (National Aeronautics Space Administration) Wallops Island Facility Tuesday evening.

The spacecraft carrying food, supplies and a classified "crypto" payload to the International Space Station shuddered violently six seconds after blast-off and exploded into a ball of flame after dropping tail first to the ground.

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NASA announced that all personnel had been accounted for and there was only minimal damage at the facility. There was, however, significant damage to surrounding property and vehicles.

NASA and Orbital Sciences reported there were no issues before the launch and the actual launch itself. This event was classified as a catastrophic anomaly. It could have been caused by a problem or problems with the rocket motor experts surmised.

The explosion occured Tuesday evening at 6:22 P.M. EDT. The original scheduled launch was delayed because a wayward sailboat entered the ocean area off limits to seacraft.

The Orbital Sciences Team is already investigating the root cause of the launch failure. Statements from witnesses are also being consolidated.

Richard Straka, general manager of Orbital Sciences' Launch Systems Group is leading an accident investigation team that will also include representatives of NASA, Orbital Sciences and the mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops.

The Antares rocket is a two stage launch vehicle carrying some 13,500 pounds of cargo supply to the ISS at the time of the failure. The cargo supply included 1,360 pounds of food for astronauts, science equipment and spacewalk equipment.

Right now, it's still unclear what backup plan will be carried out to transport food and equipment to the space station.

The Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo craft in the mission called Orb-3 was the third cargo delivery flight from Orbital Sciences. Cygnus was scheduled to arrive at the space station on November 2.

TagsSpace Station Bound Rocket Explodes at NASA Launch Facility, ISS, NASA, orbital sciences antares rocket, rocket explodes NASA antares orbital