The South Korean HANBIT-Nano rocket – the first commercial flight launched from a Brazilian base – exploded minutes after takeoff from Alcântara Base, in Maranhão state, on Monday (Dec. 22). The vehicle was unmanned.

The Innospace rocket took off at 10:13 pm and, the Brazilian Air Force reported, suffered an “anomaly that caused it to crash into the ground.”

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According to the statement, a team from the Air Force and the Fire Department was sent to the crash site to examine the wreckage. Innospace is also working to determine the cause of the failure.

The launch of HANBIT-Nano had been postponed several times. Initially, the flight was scheduled to take place in November. The date was changed to December 17, but an anomaly was identified, leading to another change, this time to December 19. Another problem caused the launch to be moved to Monday (22).

The spacecraft was 21.8 meters long and weighed 20 tons. It was to carry satellites into space to be placed in Earth orbit. It also carried eight payloads – five small satellites and three experimental devices developed by Brazil and India.