A European rocket plummeted back to Earth just seconds into its flight, after smoke began billowing from its sides.
Footage shows the Spectrum rocket, developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace, being launched from the island of Andøya in northern Norway.
It lifted off from the pad at 12.30 pm (10.30 GMT) today and flew for less than half a minute before crashing into the Norwegian Sea in a powerful explosion.
It was the first time a rocket capable of reaching orbit was launched from continental Europe, Isar Aerospace said.
The 92-foot-long Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit.
It is designed for small- and medium-sized satellites weighing up to one metric tonne, although it did not carry a payload on its first flight.
Despite the crash, the manufacturer confirmed the mission was a ‘success’ as it allowed them to gather a ‘substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions.’
‘After the flight was terminated at T+30 seconds, the launch vehicle fell into the sea in a controlled manner,’ it added in a statement.
Daniel Metzler, Isar’s chief executive and co-founder, added: ‘Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success.
‘We had a clean liftoff, 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.
The launch itself was subject to a number of factors, including weather and safety.
It was originally scheduled for Saturday and then Monday, but unfavourable winds meant that it had to happen earlier today.
Isar Aerospace aims to collect as much data and experience as possible on the first integrated test of all the systems on its in-house-developed launch vehicle.
Regardless of the crash, the flight is still considered a significant step for European ambitions to develop launch capabilities on the continents as it has no access to Russian space stations or launchers amid the war.
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 Isar Aerospace will learn a lot. Rocket launch is hard. Never give up, move forward with even more energy!’
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