Oslo: A private European aerospace company has hailed its first rocket launch as a success, even though the rocket crashed into the sea off Norway 30 seconds after lift-off.
Despite the short test flight, Isar Aerospace said it successfully completed the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle by launching its Spectrum rocket from the island of Andøya in northern Norway.
The 28-metre-long Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit. The rocket lifted off from the pad at 12.30pm (Oslo time) and flew for about a half-minute before the flight was terminated, Isar said.
“This allowed the company to gather a substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions,” Isar said in a statement. “After the flight was terminated at T+30 seconds, the launch vehicle fell into the sea in a controlled manner.”
Video from the launch shows the rocket taking off from the pad, flying into the air and then coming back down to crash into the sea in a fiery explosion.
The launch was subject to various factors, including weather and safety, and Sunday’s lift-off followed a week of poor conditions, including a scrubbed launch on March 24 because of unfavourable winds, and on Saturday for weather restrictions.
Isar Aerospace test rocket “Spectrum” lifts off on Andøya island, Norway, on Sunday.Credit: Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media/AP
“Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,” Isar chief executive and co-founder Daniel Metzler said. “We had a clean lift-off, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our flight termination system.”
The company had largely ruled out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit on its first complete flight, saying that it would consider a 30-second flight a success.
- For more: Elrisala website and for social networking, you can follow us on Facebook
- Source of information and images “brisbanetimes”“
