"SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched at 10:21am ET. After liftoff, the launch vehicle failed," NASA announced. 

 

The SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services 7 (CRS-7) mission took off right on time from Cape² Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. But shortly afterwards, video showed the rocket exploded over Florida. 

 

The last readings from the vehicle were received two minutes and 19 seconds after launch, NASA spokesman George Diller said. 

 

In a NASA press conference, SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell confirmed that a problem occurred in that general location, noting an overpressurization event in the liquid oxygen tank in the second stage of the rocket. 

 

But SpaceX doesn't know yet what caused it. "Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before first stage shutdown," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk³ tweeted, "There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank. Data suggests counterintuitive cause." 

 

The mission was to deliver the Dragon to the space station with more than two and a half tons of supplies, equipment and experiments, ranging from a new docking adapter for accommodating future U.S.-built spaceships to a virtual-reality headset for the station's crew. 

 

The Dragon's payload includes food, oxygen and other much- needed basics and its loss will put even more pressure on the crew and mission planners. 

 

"We are disappointed in the loss of the latest SpaceX cargo⁴ resupply mission to the International Space Station. However, the astronauts are safe aboard the station and have sufficient supplies for the next several months," NASA Administrator⁵ Charles Bolden said in a statement on the loss of the SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services 7 (CRS-7) mission.

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