Video Shows Antares Rocket Exploding Six Seconds After Liftoff in Virginia

Accident 6 seconds after — Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station)October 28, 2014

This footage was recorded from a live broadcast on NASA TV.

This video was tweeted to us by a reader. It shows a crowd of onlookers reacting to the explosion.

This footage was geotagged to NASA's Wallops Island in Virginia.

This video shows the explosion from East Point, Virginia.

The launch of the unmanned rocket had already been rescheduled once, and was delayed Tuesday evening because of the presence of a small boat on the river nearby. After the explosion, local radar showed smoke billowing across the surrounding skies in Virginia.

Here's an animated gif showing the smoke plume of the — Matt Daniel (@mattdanielwx)October 28, 2014

The rocket was designed by Orbital Sciences Corporation under a contract with NASA. It was first launched on April 21, 2013.

The Cygnus was expected to remain in orbit for several days before reaching the International Space Station on November 2, when Station crew were set to use a robotic arm to grapple the spacecraft into port. Station astronauts had planned to unpack provisions, hardware, and science experiments, then reload the rocket with trash that would have eventually burned up in the atmosphere upon reentry.

Live coverage can be viewed on NASA TV.

Follow Olivia Crellin on Twitter: @OliviaCrellin