Rocket which exploded in Florida was latest loss of cargo ship

A rocket which exploded shortly after takeoff on Sunday in Florida was the third loss of a cargo ship headed to the International Space Station in the past 10 months.

The unmanned spaceship Falcon 9, carrying 4,000 pounds of cargo, exploded only two minutes after its launch at Cape Canaveral, Forida.

The 208ft rocket was a collaboration between NASA and the private rocket design company SpaceX. As well as supplying food and water for the three astronauts on the ISS, the ship carried research materials for new and ongoing experiments, one of which involved investigating how to grow food in space.

Also onboard was a replacement spacesuit and two docking adapters that would have allowed commercial ships – such as those designed by SpaceX – to dock with the ISS in the future.

Around six hours after the explosion, SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk posted on Twitter "There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank."

At a press conference, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said: "We will be continuing to monitor all the data that we collect to identify the issue we experience, fix it, and get back to flight."

The explosion is the first major failure for the company, which held a perfect record for their previous 18 rocket launches.

In October, the Antares rocket exploded shortly after launch at NASA's eastern Virginia facility, while Russia's Progress M27-M ship spun out of control in April.

Though the failure of the spaceship to launch represents a blow to the space station, the three crew members on the ISS still have enough supplies to last them until October. Another supply launch, by Russia, will go ahead this Friday, while a Japanese mission is expected to launch in August.