A Russian rocket carrying a US satellite into space crashed into the Pacific Ocean just 40 seconds after takeoff early Friday, Russian space company Energija said.
Preliminary information suggested the problem arose with the ignition of the first of three sections of the Zenit-3SL rocket, which took off from a floating Odyssey platform in the ocean with the Intelsat-27 onboard.
The telecommunications satellite, intended to serve customers in the United States and Europe for 15 years and which was made by Boeing Satellite Systems, crashed into the ocean nearby. No one was injured and the platform remained intact.
Russia has suffered a number of failed satellite launches recently, which led President Vladimir Putin to fire the head of the country's aerospace department last year.
According to Switzerland-based Sea Launch AG, which organized the ocean takeoff, 31 of the 35 sea launches for which it has been responsible have been successful since the first in 1999.