A German start-up’s orbital rocket crashed seconds after take-off on Sunday.
It launched from a spaceport in northern Norway and it was attempting to be the first time a rocket capable of reaching orbit was launched from continental Europe – excluding Russia.
The roocket, described as the largest the country has made since the Nazi-era V-2, exploded just 40 seconds after lift off.
Footage taken by Isar Aerospace, the German company in charge of the rocket, showed it smoking from its sides before dramatically falling into the chilly Norwegian Sea.
The unmanned Spectrum rocket lifted off from the pad at 12.30pm local time (11.30am BST) and flew for about half a minute before the flight was terminated, Isar said.
Isar Aerospace, headquartered in Ottobrunn, still hailed the rocket a success as it gave its engineers extensive data to learn from.
In a video on X, showcasing the dramatic exmplision, Isar simply said: “Launch, learn, repeat”.
In a statement the company said: “Isar Aerospace met its set goals: After ignition of its first stage, Spectrum successfully lifted off … for its first test flight lasting approximately 30 seconds. This allowed the company to gather a substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions.”
“As a company with European roots, we are proud to have shown that Europe has an enduring capacity for bold thinking and grand achievements.”
Daniel Metzler, the company’s CEO and co-founder, said in the statement. “We will be able to serve customers from around the world to bring their satellites into space and to help Europe solve a major blind spot in its security architecture: access to space.”
The Spectrum launch vehicle is 28 metres long and has a diameter of 2 metres and is capable of carrying a payload of between 700 and 1,000 kilograms to space, depending on orbit and is powered by 10 custom engines.
Orbital rockets are designed to place loads such as satellites into or beyond Earth’s orbit.
The European Space Agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, posted on X: “Success to get off the pad, and lots of data already obtained. I am sure @isaraerospace will learn a lot. Rocket launch is hard. Never give up, move forward with even more energy!”
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
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