Failed rocket landing causes blinding explosion off US coast

Footage has been released of the moment a rocket exploded as it attempted to land on a ship off the coast of Florida.

The unmanned SpaceX rocket had returned to Earth yesterday having sent a capsule of supplies to the International Space Station.

The landing was an unprecedented attempt to recover the rocket intact, NBC reports.

However, it reportedly ran out of hydraulic fluid and came in to land at the wrong angle, causing a blinding explosion.

"Close, but no cigar," SpaceX founder Elon Musk said afterward.

Debris was scattered all across the ship's deck and into the sea, roughly 320km off Florida's coast.

SpaceX was founded in 2002 and specialises in making advanced rocket and spacecraft technology with the ultimate goal of "enabling people to live on other planets".

Source: NBC News