In a statement released Saturday, the company said the investigation team will disclose the full official determination of the failure.

"The good news is that all vehicle systems, including the main engine, thrust vector control, structures, avionics, software, guidance algorithm, etc. were picture perfect," the statement said. Falcon's trajectory was within 0.2 degrees of nominal during powered flight.

SpaceX said that at 25 seconds after launch � from Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific � "a fuel leak of currently unknown origin caused a fire around the top of the main engine that cut into the first stage helium pneumatic system. On high resolution imagery, the fire is clearly visible within seconds after liftoff. Once the pneumatic pressure decayed below a critical value, the spring return safety function of the pre-valves forced them closed, shutting down the main engine at (29 seconds)."

The company said that, so far, "it does not appear as though the first stage insulation played a negative role, nor are any other vehicle anomalies apparent from either the telemetry or imaging. Falcon was executing perfectly on all fronts until fire impaired the first stage pneumatic system."

Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and chief executive officer, said in the same statement: "Our plan at this point is to analyze data and debris to be certain that the above preliminary analysis is correct and then isolate and address all possible causes for the fuel leak. In addition, we will do another ground up systems review of the entire vehicle to flush out any other potential issues."

Musk continued: "I cannot predict exactly when the next flight will take place, as that depends on the findings of this investigation and ensuring that our next customer is comfortable that all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure reliability. However, I would hope that the next launch occurs in less than six months."

He noted that other launch enterprises that have succeeded also have experienced their share of failures. "A friend of mine wrote to remind me that only five of the first 9 Pegasus launches succeeded; three of five for Ariane; nine of 20 for Atlas; nine of 21 for Soyuz; and nine of 18 for Proton. Having experienced firsthand how hard it is to reach orbit, I have a lot of respect for those that persevered to produce the vehicles that are mainstays of space launch today."

Musk added that he is "very encouraged and grateful that our launch customers took the time to call and express their support of SpaceX when their reaction could easily have been the opposite. We will stand by them as they have stood by us. SpaceX is in this for the long haul and, come hell or high water, we are going to make this work."

He said he would try to post as much information as possible on the SpaceX Web site in the coming weeks about the launch failure. "SpaceX is a company that believes in maximum disclosure (within the boundaries of proprietary data and ITAR restrictions)," Musk said.

Had Falcon 1 succeeded, it would have been the first privately launched rocket intended to reach orbit. It would have lifted into space 80 years and 8 days after Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket, on March 16, 1926, in Auburn, Mass.

The plan was for the rocket to accelerate to 17,000 miles per hour, or Mach 25, in under 10 minutes, and eventually reach an elliptical orbit between 400 kilometers and 500 kilometers (250 miles and 320 miles), or about 50 kilometers (32 miles) above the International Space Station.

Designed from the ground up by SpaceX, the 70-foot-long Falcon 1 is a two stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and purified, rocket grade kerosene. The main engine of Falcon 1, called Merlin, was the first all-new American hydrocarbon engine for an orbital booster to be flown in 40 years, and only the second new American booster engine of any kind in 25.

Falcon 1 also was designed to fly using state-of-the-art avionics, which require a small fraction of the power and mass of other systems. It would have been the world's only semi-reusable orbital rocket apart from the Shuttle.

Priced at $6.7 million, the rocket, if it can be flown successfully, will provide the lowest cost per flight to orbit of any launch vehicle in the world, despite receiving a design reliability rating equivalent to that of the best launch vehicles currently flying in the United States, SpaceX said in an earlier statement.

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