SpaceX rocket explodes minutes after launch

Minutes after a SpaceX rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Sunday it disintegrated and burst into flames, destroying 5,200 pounds of supplies, research and hardware for the International Space Station.

Falcon 9 and its cargo, a Dragon resupply space capsule, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday at 10:21 a.m. At 139 seconds into its flight, NASA video showed a white cloud emitting from the rocket before flames appeard and debris fell from the sky.

The rocket was about 27 miles high and traveling at 2,900 mph when the failure occurred.

This marks the third space station resupply mission lost within a year from three differ-

Explosive video

SunSentinel.com/spacex ent launch providers. In April, a Russian cargo ship spun out of control and burned up upon reentry, along with all its contents. Last October, an Orbital Sciences Corp. supply ship was destroyed in a launch accident.

“We expect losses in commercial flight,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate. “I just didn’t think we would lose them all in a year time frame.”

The rocket experienced an over-pressurization event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Twitter account.

“Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before first stage shutdown,” Musk tweeted. “Will provide more info as soon as we review the data.”

The SpaceX CRS-7 resupply flight was loaded with experiments for the astronauts to perform during ISS Expeditions 44 and 45, including about 30 student experiments. Some supplies were replacements from the Orbital launch in October that exploded seconds after liftoff.

International Space Station Manager Mike Suffredini stressed that the International Space Station crew still have four months of supplies and are in good shape. NASA would not plan to return the astronauts to Earth unless they were down to