--- description: The company whose rocket exploded in a massive fireball about 200 feet in the air Tuesday is taking a beating on the stock market. title: Antares Explosion Sends Orbital Sciences Stock Plunging image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b8c732ffe845d08/69876333524fc0044bdea1e0/antares-orbital-sciences.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [stocks](/tag/stocks/) ## stocks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Space Company's Stock Plummets to Earth After Rocket Explodes During Liftoff by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 29, 2014 4:00 PM CUT  In this handout provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard suffers a catastrophic anomaly moments after launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility on October 28, 2014 on Wallops Island, Virginia. In this handout provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard suffers a catastrophic anomaly moments after launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility on October 28, 2014 on Wallops Island, Virginia.NASA—Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 29, 2014 4:00 PM CUT The company whose rocket [exploded](http://time.com/3544717/nasas-antares-rocket-explodes-during-take-off/ "undefined") in a massive fireball about 200 feet in the air Tuesday is taking a beating on the stock market. Shares for Orbital Sciences are down 15% in early morning trading after the company’s unmanned spacecraft, the Antares, malfunctioned just moments into its attempted journey to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. Orbital stock was trading at about $25.50 around noon. As [TIME’s Jeff Kluger points out](http://time.com/3544723/antares-explosion-nasa-elon-musk/ "undefined"), the failed launch could be devastating for Orbital, which has been launching spacecraft for decades. The company is competing fiercely with the likes of Elon Musk’s upstart SpaceX to win NASA contracts to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. Orbital is seeking to extend its contract, and this accident won’t help matters. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3546077/orbital-sciences-antares-explosion-stock/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3546077/orbital-sciences-antares-explosion-stock/"},"headline":"Space Company's Stock Plummets to Earth After Rocket Explodes During Liftoff","datePublished":"2014-10-29T16:00:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:05:22.269Z","description":"The company whose rocket exploded in a massive fireball about 200 feet in the air Tuesday is taking a beating on the stock market.","url":"https://time.com/3546077/orbital-sciences-antares-explosion-stock/","keywords":["stocks","explosion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b8c732ffe845d08/69876333524fc0044bdea1e0/antares-orbital-sciences.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b8c732ffe845d08/69876333524fc0044bdea1e0/antares-orbital-sciences.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Unmanned Antares Rocket Explodes At Launch On Wallops Island","caption":"Unmanned Antares Rocket Explodes At Launch On Wallops Island","creditText":"NASA—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/stocks/","name":"stocks"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3546077/orbital-sciences-antares-explosion-stock/","name":"Space Company's Stock Plummets to Earth After Rocket Explodes During Liftoff"}}]}] ```