A Brazilian rocket due to blast off in coming days exploded at its jungle launch site today, killing an estimated 20 people.
There were no immediate reports of how the accident happened. Officials underlined that the accident did not happen in conjunction with an attempted launch.
The $6.5 million, 65-foot (20-metre) rocket was to have placed two satellites into orbit. It was sitting in a large structure on the launch pad at Brazil's tropical Alcantara space base, situated on a jungle peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil's Amazon region, when the accident happened.
Brazil had been hoping to make the first successful venture into space by a Latin American nation. Rockets launched by Brazil in 1997 and 1999 were destroyed shortly after lift-off because of technical problems.
Experts have been working since the beginning of July to assemble the so-called Satellite Launch Vehicle. Early this week, a reporter visiting the base saw scientists working on the platforms surrounding the rocket.
The rocket was to have transported two small satellites, carrying positioning equipment, a communications transmitter and energy source. They were to have been released into low orbit about 470 miles (750 km) above the Earth less than eight minutes after blastoff.
The launch pad is situated in a heavily-guarded section of the huge space base. Reports said that the explosion was heard dozens of miles away in the town of Sao Luis.
Brazil has aspirations for Alcantara to become a major international commercial satellite launch center. The base is close to the Equator, allowing rockets to use less fuel to reach orbit and carry larger payloads because they catch a ride on the Earth's centrifugal forces.