(CNN) – An unmanned Russian rocket veered off course and exploded in a fireball Tuesday, seconds after liftoff from a launch pad in Kazakhstan.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Proton-M rocket was carrying three satellites for Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System, or Glonass, reported the RIA Novosti news agency.
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Glonass is the Russian equivalent to the United States’ Global Positioning System, or GPS.
The rocket had just taken off from the Baikonur space center, in a launch broadcast live on television.
Seconds later, it changed course, burst into flames and dove nose-first into the ground.
In 2010, another Proton-M rocket carrying three satellites crashed in the Pacific Ocean.
Authorities have suspended further launches of the rockets as they investigate what caused the explosion.
