Posted: Fri, Feb 1, 2013, 7:41 AM ET (1241 GMT)
A Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket suffered an engine shutdown shortly after liftoff early Friday, causing the vehicle and its satellite payload to plunge into the ocean. The Zenit-3SL lifted off from its floating Odyssey Launch Platform on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean at 1:56 am EST (0656 GMT) Friday. Few details about the launch itself were available during the webcast, but company officials later confirmed that "all telemetry was lost" from the rocket 40 seconds after liftoff, indicating a loss of mission. Other reports stated that there was a shutdown of the rocket's first-stage engine, but few other details about the failure have been released. The failure is the first for Sea Launch since a January 2007 failure when the Zenit's first-stage engine malfunctioned immediately after liftoff.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  RIA Novosti article
•  BBC article
•  Reuters article
•  Sea Launch statement