SES New Skies Satellite Destroyed as Rocket Explodes on Liftoff

An AP newswire article, via MSNBC, reports that:

A rocket carrying a commercial communications satellite exploded Tuesday during launch from an oceangoing platform in the equatorial Pacific.

“There was an explosion as we were lifting off,” said Paula Korn, a spokeswoman for Sea Launch Co., which was launching The Boeing Co.-built NSS-8 satellite for Netherlands-based SES New Skies.

More here.