The orbital rocket crashes after the first launch from continental Europe
The engine shivered in the waist around the middle of the local hour of noon on Sunday, and with a guttural roar, the 92 feet high spectrum rocket slowly moved away from its launch tower, marking the first take -off of its kind in the European continent.
The rocket, launched by Isar Aerospace from inside the Arctic Circle in a distance space on the icy Norwegian island of Andøya, was the first orbital flight outside Russia to leave continental Europe. About 30 seconds after the rocket eliminated the launch, launched on the side and fell on the ground.
But Daniel Metzler, CEO of Isar Aerospace, was optimistic. He said in a statement that the test flight had “satisfied all our expectations, reaching great success”, despite the accident.
“We had a clean, 30 seconds of flight and we could even validate our flight termination system,” said Metzler. The rocket fell directly into the sea, the launch was not damaged and no one was damaged when the space vehicle crashed, added.
It was not possible to immediately reach the And -ya Spaceport for a comment. Previously, he had published on social media, stating that the “crisis management” had been activated following the accident and that he was collaborating with emergency services and Isar Aerospace.
The test flight was seven years in Making for Isar Aerospace, a German company founded in 2018 with the mission of making satellite launches more accessible from Europe. European companies were pushing Next in space technology and research, exploring the potential of the spatial sector for defense, safety and geopolitics.
“There are about a million things that can go wrong and only a way in which things are fine,” said Metzler, CEO of Isar Aerospace, in a video interview before launch. The team had reprogrammed several previous launch attempts, citing unfavorable weather conditions. “Frankly, I would be happy if we only flew 30 seconds,” he said at that moment.
That amount of time, he said, would give the team a lot of information to analyze and use to improve their vehicle. And this has been around how long the flight of Sunday has lasted.
In the video, Mr. Metzler stressed that Spacex, the first private company a successfully launch A rocket of its design in orbit had three failed attempts before reaching this milestone in 2008.
Several private companies in Europe have been design Spaceports for a new wave of rockets. Sweden has renewed An old research base in a cutting -edge satellite launch center north of the Arctic Circle and also Great Britain open A space center in Cornwall, in the extreme south -ovesto of England. The errors, however, can be expensive: Virgin Orbit, the space company founded by the British billionaire Richard Branson, in the end folded After his failed attempt in 2023 to launch a rocket in orbit.
“The space has truly become a very crucial element in geopolitical, in global intuitions and, of course, it is a huge economic opportunity,” said Metzler.
The company, which was initially supported by Bulent Altan, former manager of the Space X, has raised Over 430 million dollars in funding from international investors, according to its website, including the guarantee of support from NATO innovation Finance.
Wings watkins He contributed to this relationship.
