FLASH
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An experimental rocket intended to launch satellites from Europe fell to Earth and exploded 40 seconds after its launch from a Norwegian spaceport.
The uncrewed Spectrum rocket was described as the first attempt at an orbital flight originating from Europe, where several countries - including Sweden and Britain - have said they want a piece of a growing market for commercial space missions.
This was the largest German rocket since the V-2, the Nazi-era rocket that is often 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 that 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," Chief Executive Daniel Metzler said in a statement. "We had a clean takeoff, 30 seconds of flight and even managed to validate our flight termination system."
The Spectrum, a two-stage orbital launch vehicle, is 28 meters long, powered by 10 engines developed by Isar and is specifically designed to place small and medium-sized 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 who is considered to have been a key contributor to Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The global space race has increasingly focused on deploying satellite constellations. Several European countries, including the United Kingdom, have expressed interest in this growing market for satellite launches.
The rocket's developers said it had a "clean liftoff"
Major companies working on the technology include SpaceX, which carries out launches from the US and operates the Starlink satellite communications service.
France's ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran, operates 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-made and launched orbital rocket.
The rocket, Prime, is being built by Scotland-based Orbex. It is also designed to launch satellites into orbit and will launch from a Scottish spaceport later this year.
China is a rising player in the satellite launch race.
On Sunday, Chinese state media reported that the country had sent a new satellite into orbit from Hainan Island, using a Long March-7A rocket.
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