--- title: Orbital Sciences CEO Gives Reason for Antares Rocket Explosion description: Investigators believe they know what caused the massive failure and explosion of the Antares rocket just seconds after it lifted off a Virginia launch pad. canonical: https://time.com/3567208/orbital-sciences-antares-rocket-explosion/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-06T22:34:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:01:59.828Z article:section: Science og:title: Orbital Sciences CEO says Antares’ Soviet-era rocket engine failed og:description: Investigators believe they know what caused the massive failure and explosion of the Antares rocket just seconds after it lifted off a Virginia launch pad. og:url: https://time.com/3567208/orbital-sciences-antares-rocket-explosion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8681ef7d41cf9cf/6987667acd68487f33097bd8/458031618.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 7360 og:image:height: 4140 og:image:alt: Unmanned Antares Rocket Explodes At Launch On Wallops Island og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Orbital Sciences CEO says Antares’ Soviet-era rocket engine failed twitter:description: Investigators believe they know what caused the massive failure and explosion of the Antares rocket just seconds after it lifted off a Virginia launch pad. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8681ef7d41cf9cf/6987667acd68487f33097bd8/458031618.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Orbital Sciences CEO Gives Reason for Antares Rocket Explosion > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=457a77c9-0b74-407c-a1ba-cbb7ba228dd3&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Orbital Sciences CEO Says Antares’ Soviet-Era Rocket Engine Failed [Watch (HLS stream): Orbital Sciences CEO Says Antares’ Soviet-Era Rocket Engine Failed](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/39tXOoAF.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2014-11-06. Investigators believe they know what caused the massive failure and explosion of the Antares rocket just seconds after it lifted off a Virginia launch pad. Orbital Sciences’ CEO said one of two main engines to launch the rocket failed._ by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Nov 6, 2014 10:34 PM UTC by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Nov 6, 2014 10:34 PM UTC Investigators believe they know what made the Antares rocket explode just seconds after it lifted off from a Virginia launch pad. Orbital Sciences’ president and CEO David Thompson said one of two main engines used to launch the rocket failed. Thompson also said Orbital Sciences plans on continuing with its nearly $2 billion contract with NASA to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. The failed AJ26 engine will no longer be used to launch the rocket. ## Transcript Investigators believe that they know what caused the massive failure and explosion of the Antari's rocket just seconds after it lifted off a Virginia launch pad. The CEO of Orbital Sciences spoke with investors in a conference call Wednesday and focused on the main engines launching the resupply mission. Current evidence strongly suggests that one of the two AJ26 main engines. The towered Antares first stage failed about 15 seconds after ignition. Orbital sciences now believes a turbo pump that pushes fuel into the engines combustion chamber failed, meaning the rocket didn't have enough moment to continue climbing high or fast enough. When that happened. And it became clear. And Tories would not make it into orbit. Orbital Science has said officials engaged the system to destroy the rest of the rocket to avoid more damage or a crash on populated areas. Calling the engine unreliable, C- E- O David Thomson has said, Orbital Science has plans to continue with its nearly $ 2 billion contract with NASA to deliver supplies to the international space station. The A- J 26 engine will no longer be used for launch. A Wells Fargo analyst who participated in the conference call asked Thompson if it was fair say the flaw that caused the explosion couldn't have been detected during testing. But was instead a fundamental issue of the engines reliability in an actual lauch. Thompson responded, I would say that's a good assessment. Orbital Sciences, NASA and Aerojet conducted this test of an AJ26 engine in 2010, back when the Antares project was known as Taurus II. The rocket engines are repurposed from Soviet moon missions back in the 70s. Orbital Sciences is already attempting to get supplies to the International Space Station by contracting with other companies with available rockets. 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