Spy Satellite Is Destroyed as Launch Rocket Explodes

A Titan 4A Air Force rocket carrying a spy satellite blew up in a spectacular fireball 40 seconds after liftoff Wednesday, showering more than $1 billion worth of flaming debris over the Atlantic Ocean, the Air Force said.

With the rocket’s value estimated at $300 million and the satellite’s at $800 million to $1 billion, the failure was one of the costliest in the history of the U.S. space program.

No one was injured, but Brig. Gen. Randy Starbuck warned that anyone who came across shreds of the rocket or its ultra-secret National Reconnaissance Office cargo should keep away.

“It should be considered hazardous material. If someone sees that debris out there on the water, please don’t pick it up,” he said. Starbuck asked anyone who sees debris to contact the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base. He said the cause of the failure is unknown.

The plume caused by the rocket’s toxic fuel drifted out to sea and dispersed, officials said.

The 20-story Titan pitched downward and exploded without warning. Two seconds later, Air Force launch controllers sent a self-destruct command to break the rocket into smaller pieces and reduce the threat to people on the ground.

The double boom could be heard miles away and set off car alarms around the area.

“Oh, no,” the launch commentator muttered as the rocket shattered four miles above Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. “It appears that we’ve had a malfunction of the vehicle.”

The only other time a Titan 4 blew up was at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1993.