Rocket carrying European orbital vehicle crashes after seconds after takeoff

A test rocket aimed at building the ability to launch satellites from Europe crashed about 40 seconds after takeoff from a Norwegian spaceport on Sunday.

The unmanned Spectrum rocket, an orbital rocket developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace, started smoking from its sides and then crashed back to Earth with a powerful explosion after launching from Norway’s Andoya Spaceport in the Arctic. The company called the test flight a success.

“Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,” Daniel Metzler, Isar’s chief executive and co-founder, said in a news release. “We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System.”

The company said the two-stage rocket fell into the sea, adding that “the launch pad seems to be intact”.

Orbital rockets are designed to place loads such as satellites into or beyond Earth’s orbit.

Spectrum’s blast-off was the first of an orbital launch vehicle from the European continent, excluding Russia, and Europe’s first financed almost exclusively by the private sector.

The launch had been repeatedly postponed due to weather conditions, and Isar Aerospace had downplayed expectations.

“Every second we fly is good because we collect data and experience. Thirty seconds would already be a great success,” Metzler, said ahead of the launch.

“We do not expect to reach orbit with this test. In fact, no company has yet managed to put its first orbital launch vehicle into orbit.”

The 92-foot two-stage rocket was not carrying any load for the test flight.

Isar Aerospace is separate from the European Space Agency, or ESA, which is funded by its 23 member states, the Associated Press reported.

ESA has been launching rockets and satellites into orbit for years, but mainly from French Guiana — an overseas department of France in South America — and from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

A first European orbital launch attempt was made in 2023 by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit. It attempted to use a Boeing 747 to launch a rocket into orbit from southwest England, but failed, leading the company to fold.

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