An unmanned SpaceX rocket has exploded during a routine test at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The Falcon 9 rocket and its $200m (£150m) satellite payload were destroyed in the blast, which occurred while the rocket was being test-fired just after 1pm.
SpaceX said no-one was injured in the blast, and blamed an "anomaly" on the launchpad for the explosion.
The Israeli AMOS-6 satellite destroyed in the blast was set to be part of a Facebook scheme to provide internet coverage to parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Elon Musk's SpaceX had been due to launch the rocket at dawn on Saturday.
The force of the explosion shook buildings several miles away, and a thick cloud of smoke was seen rising from the launch site.
Footage taken after the blast showed the rocket still standing, although the top third appeared to be bent over.
The air is being monitored by authorities for any sign of toxic fumes.
The test-firing was carried out close to NASA's Kennedy Space Centre.
SpaceX is one of two companies shipping supplies to the International Space Station for NASA.
The blast occurred as two astronauts carried out a spacewalk outside the ISS to fix a thermal radiator.
The astronauts were not informed of the explosion, NASA said.
AMOS-6 was the heaviest payload to date for a SpaceX rocket, according to John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.
The accident is expected to significantly disrupt the aerospace firm's plans for six planned launches between now and January 2017.
It comes just over a year after a Falcon 9 rocket failed just after liftoff, destroying a Dragon cargo capsule bound for the ISS.
SpaceX has also lost several rockets while attempting land them upright on ocean platforms.
However it successfully landed a Falcon 9 on a floating drone ship last month, after the rocket sent a Japanese communications satellite into orbit.
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