SpaceX has suffered a setback after one of its rockets suffered a catastrophic failure during launch Sunday.
The unmanned rocket carrying supplies for the International Space Station exploded about two minutes after launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
It is still unclear what caused the rocket to break apart.
A billowing white cloud emerged in the sky, growing bigger and bigger, then fiery plumes shot out. Pieces of the rocket could be seen falling into the ocean.
More than 5,200 pounds of Space Station cargo was on board, including the first docking port designed for future commercial crew capsules, a new spacesuit and a water filtration system.
NASA commentator George Diller said "the vehicle has broken up" after the explosion. It is still not clear how the disaster occurred.
SpaceX and NASA officials held a press conference later Sunday, saying the failure shouldn't impact future manned missions.
NASA officials said they have enough supplies for the three-person crew on board the station to last until October and still plan to send three more crew members up in a late July launch. Normally, NASA likes to have a six-month cushion of food and water, but is now down to four months.
The thousands of pounds of gear was packed for the trip included replacements for science experiments lost in the Orbital launch accident, some of them designed by students.
Stored in the capsule's unpressurized trunk was the first of two new docking rings for the station.
"We're good from a food and water standpoint," NASA's top spaceflight official, William Gerstenmaier said.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket shattered while traveling at 2,900 mph, about 27 miles up. Everything seemed to be going well until the rocket went supersonic.
SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk later said that the pressure got too high in the liquid-oxygen tank of the rocket's upper stage.
"That's all we can say with confidence right now," Musk said via Twitter.
The private company is in charge of the accident investigation, with oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration, which licensed the flight.
Investigators hope learn from the explosion and make sure it doesn’t happen again, especially when crew members go on board in 2017, a timeline NASA said it still in place.
“This information can be really important as we move forward and look at crew designed and flights,” said Gerstenmaier.
Administrators added that Sunday’s loss is a reminder of the challenges in reaching the final frontier.
“The teams will work through this. We'll learn from these events and I think we'll get stronger from these events,” said Gerstenmaier.
The National Weather Service in Melbourne tweeted a picture showing where the debris fell.
Officials said debris from the rocket explosion could wash ashore and anyone who finds the pieces is asked to call 321-867-2121.
Beachgoers were urged not to touch any debris.
This shipment was especially critical because the space station has lost two deliveries since fall.
A Russian supply ship spun out of control shortly after liftoff in April and burned up on re-entry with all its contents. In October, an Orbital Sciences Corp. cargo carrier was destroyed in a Virginia launch explosion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
