Germany's largest rocket since V-2 crashes and explodes seconds after launch
Credit: @NASASpaceflight/@spacecoastwest
A test rocket aimed at kick-starting satellite launches from Europe fell to the ground and exploded 40 seconds after its launch from a Norwegian space port.
The uncrewed Spectrum rocket was described as the first attempt at an orbital flight to originate from Europe, where several nations – including Sweden and Britain – have said they want a share of a growing market for commercial space missions.
It was the largest German rocket since V-2, the Nazi-era rocket that has often been described as having launched the space age and was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile.
Isar Aerospace, the German company that developed the Spectrum rocket, insisted the failed flight had produced extensive data from which its team could learn.
'Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,' Daniel Metzler, the chief executive, said in a statement. 'We had a clean lift-off, 30 seconds of flight, and even got to validate our flight termination system.'
Spectrum, a two-stage orbital launch vehicle, is 28 meters long, powered by 10 engines developed in-house by Isar, and was specifically designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit.
The firm was founded in 2018. Its website lists a group of investors including Airbus Ventures and Bulent Altan, a Turkish-American aerospace executive and engineer considered to have been a key contributor at Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The global space race has increasingly become focused on the deployment of satellite constellations. Several European nations, including the UK, have expressed interest in this growing market for satellite launches.
Key companies working on technologies include SpaceX, which conducts launches from the US and operates the Starlink satellite communications service.
France's ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran, uses a spaceport in French Guiana, on the northern coast of South America.
In January, the UK Government announced a £20 million investment to help fund the construction and launch of the first British-manufactured and launched orbital rocket.
The rocket, Prime, is being built by Orbex, based in Scotland. It is also designed to launch satellites into orbit, and is due to launch from a Scottish spaceport late this year.
China is a growing player in the satellite launch race. On Sunday, Chinese state media reported that the country had sent a new satellite into orbit from the island of Hainan, using a Long March-7A rocket.
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