The rocket, proposed in 1979[2] had until the accident two launch attempts: one in 1997, which ended up in the Atlantic Ocean due to the failure of one of the first stage engines to start[3][4] and another in 1999, destroyed remotely due to a flame penetrating the top of the second stage block 3 minutes after takeoff.

[10] The accident occurred three days before the scheduled launch date, at 1:26:06 pm (Brasília time) on August 22, 2003,[11][1] between frames 26 and 27 recorded by the Closed Circuit TV of the Mobile Integration Tower.

[18] At the same time that the accident occurred, the president of AEB Luiz Bevilacqua, was giving a press conference about the agreement signed between Brazil and Ukraine for the use of the Alcântara base.

[19][20] It was identified that the ignition process occurred prematurely, and thus the launch tower was not removed in time, which was the main cause of the fire.

[23] The investigation involved Russia[24] at the request of the Ministry of Defense, and was answered by sending six technicians from the Russian Aerospace Agency.

[31] Among the possible causes of the ignition, they raised the possibility of static electricity, with the Russian experts noting the absence of a bridge between the propellant and the propellant housing, but it was considered a low probability event due to the non-occurrence of lightning on the day.

[32] The electrostatic discharge hypothesis was found to be superior,[33] due to the absence of a barrier between the first stage boosters.