SpaceX launches — and loses — first rocket

[KP580BE51]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11997932/

After four years of work, three launch delays and $100 million in dot-com cash, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket rose from its Pacific launch pad on Friday, but was lost moments later.

Space enthusiasts around the world had looked forward to what SpaceX, also known as Space Exploration Technologies, billed as the world's first all-new orbital launch vehicle in more than a decade.

The two-stage, partially reusable rocket ascended from a launch complex on Omelek Island in Kwajalein Atoll, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as thousands watched via a Webcast. But moments after its fiery rise from the pad, the Webcast signal was lost. Then, SpaceX reported that the rocket and its satellite were destroyed during the ascent.