On August 22, 2003, a massive explosion destroyed a Brazilian Space Agency VLS-1 (VLS-1 V03) rocket as it stood on its launch pad at the Alcântara Launching Center in the state of Maranhão in northern Brazil. Twenty-one people, standing on the launch pad, died when one of the rocket's four first stage motors ignited accidentally. The explosion caused a fire in the nearby jungle brush, and produced a large cloud of smoke that was visible for large distances. This was the third major attempt by Brazil to launch a rocket of the country's own design. August 22 is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Brazilian Space Agency (Agência Espacial Brasileira) is the civilian authority in Brazil that is in charge of the countrys burgeoning space programme. ... The VLS-1, today, is the main project of satellite launchers at the Brazilian Space Agency (http://www. ... A Soyuz rocket, at Baikanur launch pad. ... The launch pad refers to the facilities where rockets or spacecrafts liftoff. ... The Alcântara rocket launch site, Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara (CLA), is located at the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the north of Brazil, in the state of Maranhão. ... Maranhão is one of the states of Brazil in the north-eastern region. ... A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust from within a rocket engine. ... This article is about Jungle, the terrain. ...

The explosion leveled the rocket's launch pad, reducing a 10-story high structure to a pile of twisted metal. Dozens of kilometers away, residents of the city of São Luís were able to hear the blast. The rocket had been scheduled to launch in just a few days' time and had two satellites onboard when the explosion occurred. São Luís is the capital of the state of Maranhão, Brazil. ... For other uses, please see Satellite (disambiguation) A satellite is an object that orbits another object (known as its primary). ...

After the explosion, the Brazilian Space Agency was criticized for using solid-fuel rockets, which are easier to build and ignite than liquid-fuel rockets, but also dangerous because they lack throttle controls and emergency shut-offs. The incident has caused a significant delay to the Brazilian space program because of government inquiries as well as the fact that many scientists and engineers who worked on the program died when the rocket exploded. The Space Shuttle Columbia is initially launched with the help of solid-fuel boosters A solid rocket or a solid fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). ... A liquid rocket engine has propellant and oxidiser in liquid form, as opposed to a solid rocket or hybrid rocket. ... In an engine, the throttle is the mechanism by which the engines power is increased or decreased. ... Categories: Stub | Safety equipment ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the Technical Symposium of NITK Surathkal Engineer , see Engineer (Technical Fest). ...

Many people defend that the hipotesys of sabotage can not be discarded. Specially because there is an uncanny presence of a high number of foreigners in Alcântara without any justified reason.

The VLS-1 V04 was scheduled for launch in 2006, but the need for two separate stage testing postponed it, probably to 2009. By then, the VLS-2, now renamed Alfa (with a liquid-fuel third stage), may be ready. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The second stage of a Minuteman III rocket Description A multistage (or multi-stage) rocket is, like any rocket, propelled by the recoil pressure of the burning gases it emits as it burns fuel. ... Alfa may mean: Alfa Romeo, an automobile Alfa, an Italian rocket Alfa, a title of respect among the Fula people The letter A in the NATO phonetic alphabet, spelt with an f for the benefit of native speakers of Spanish and other languages that do not spell the f phoneme...

See also

• List of space disasters

Test pilot Stuart Present ejects safely from the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle. ...

References

• FSP: New tests postpone VLS-1 V04 launch (in Portuguese)
• BBC: A scaled down VSV-30 launch successfully
• BBC: Fatal blast hits Brazil space hopes
• BBC: Brazil vows to pursue space plan
• SpaceDaily article on explosion
• Space Imaging: IKONOS satellite photo of explosion site (photo of the week, August 24, 2003)