NASA's Antares rocket, headed to the International Space Station, exploded shortly after launch Tuesday night.
The rocket was unmanned, and NASA officials said no personnel appeared to be in danger.
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However, there was "significant" property damage.
The explosion lit up the sky at the launch pad in Virginia and occurred about 6 seconds after liftoff.
The Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft were set to launch at 6:22 p.m. ET. It was set to carry some 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station.
"There was failure on launch," NASA spokesman Jay Bolden said. "There was no indicated loss of life.
Bolden added, "There was significant property and vehicle damage. Mission control is trying to assess what went wrong."
Video shows the rocket rising into the air for a few seconds before an explosion. It then plummets back to Earth, causing more flames as it hits the ground. NASA tweeted that the failure occurred six seconds after launch.
Ed Encina was among those who watched it happen from about three miles away in the remote resort area.
"You immediately thought that everything was fine, because you see the big launch, and it brightened up the sky," said Encina, a Baltimore Sun reporter. "And then all of a sudden, you see a big fireball."
Encina also recalled a loud boom that caused "your feet (to) shake a little bit," as well as flames enveloping a roughly 100-yard area around the launch pad in a marshy area with brush.
The launch had been scheduled for Monday, but that was scrubbed "because of a boat down range in the trajectory Antares would have flown had it lifted off," according to NASA.
Just before Tuesday's liftoff, the space agency reported "100% favorable" weather and "no technical concerns with the rocket or spacecraft being worked."
About one-third of the spacecraft's cargo consisted of material for scientific investigations, including a Houston school's experiment on pea growth and a study on blood flow in space.
There was about the same amount of cargo for supplies for the space station's crew, including more than 1,300 pounds of food.
Watch video of a shock wave hitting bystanders below:
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