The module carrying a US satellite designed to monitor global carbon dioxide emissions failed to separate from its rocket soon after it was launched this morning.
'It appears that there were problems separating' and the satellite 'did not achieve orbit,' said NASA TV announcer George Diller (watch the failed launch).
'We are still evaluating the status of the location and the exact state' of the spacecraft, he said.
'We have not had a successful launch tonight,' he added.
The mission of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) was to map the global distribution of carbon dioxide and study how that distribution changes over time.
It is NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide.
In January, Japan launched a satellite on a similar mission.
Carbon dioxide is the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving climate change.
