NASA destroyed an unmanned experimental rocket carrying a pair of research satellites Friday when it veered off course shortly after an early morning liftoff. At 5:10 a.m. Friday, August 22, the rocket was destroyed by range safety officials after liftoff from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. No injuries or property damage have been reported.

Officials said the rocket was a prototype made by Alliant Techsystems Inc., (ATK) that was destroyed by remote control 27 seconds into the predawn flight. It was between 11,000 and 12,000 feet high when it exploded. Officials do not know why it veered off course, and it was destroyed to avoid endangering the public. "I would be surprised if we don't know what happened fairly quickly," said Kent Rominger, an ex-astronaut who is now vice president of advanced programs for the company's launch systems.

NASA's investment of $17 million included the two hypersonic flight research satellites and flight preparations. A value of the one-of-a-kind rocket developed over the past few years was unavailable. The mission was to learn firsthand about launch vehicles and to test new technologies.

The Minneapolis-based ATK makes the solid-rocket boosters for NASA's space shuttles and is working with the space agency on its new moon rockets. Rominger called Friday's accident "a very big disappointment but not a setback." "We knew the risks of launching payloads on a first-of-a-kind rocket," said Juan Alonso, director of NASA's fundamental aeronautics program.