Brazilian space rocket blast kills 16

A space rocket exploded on its launchpad last night, days before its planned flight, killing at least 16 people and delivering a massive setback to Brazil's ambitions in space.

The rocket was to have made Brazil the first Latin American state to send its own satellites into orbit. Local TV showed a plume of smoke rising above the jungle base at Alcantara in north-east Brazil. Most of the dead were civilian technicians, though the project is run by the military. At least 20 others were injured.

"We had just done two days of tests and everything went well - 100%. Everybody is devastated," said air force colonel Romeo Brasileiro. The explosion is Brazil's third failure to get into space, in a project that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

In 1997 a rocket crashed into the Atlantic with an engine failure. In 1999 another developed problems three minutes after take-off and was destroyed by remote control.

The latest rocket cost $6.5m (£4.2m). The plan had been to begin the launch sequence on Monday, with the exact launch time dependent on weather and final checks. The two satellites aboard were also destroyed.

Brazil began a space programme in the 1970s, focused on meteorology, telecoms, and the environment. Its first satellite went into space on a US rocket. The explosion is a blow to hopes Brazil can become a commercial satellite launch centre. The Alcantara base is close to the equator, enabling rockets to use less fuel and carry larger payloads because they ride the earth's centrifugal force.