WASHINGTON, October 29 (RIA Novosti) — Antares rocket manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corporation and Government Agencies are to hold investigation into the reasons of the Cygnus spaceship explosion during the launch at the US Wallops Flight Facility, the company said in a statement.
"Orbital has formed an anomaly investigation board, which will work in close coordination with all appropriate government agencies, to determine the cause of today's mishap," the release said Tuesday.
Orbital has confirmed that Antares rocket launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility was not successful.
"Shortly after lift-off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at 6:22 p.m. (EDT), the vehicle suffered a catastrophic failure," the statement reads.
"We will conduct a thorough investigation immediately to determine the cause of this failure and what steps can be taken to avoid a repeat of this incident. As soon as we understand the cause, we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nation's space program," Frank Culbertson, Orbital's Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Advanced Programs Group, said in the company's statement.
According to NASA's emergency operations officials, there were no casualties and property damage was limited to the south end of Wallops Island.
