European orbital rocket crashes after launch

In a highly anticipated test for the continent’s attempt to establish a new space economy, the first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe on Sunday failed seconds after blast-off.

In a live video aired on YouTube, the German start-up Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket began to smoke from its sides and then exploded violently as it came down to Earth shortly after taking off from Norway’s Andoya Spaceport in the Arctic.

According to Isar Aerospace, which had previously stated that it did not anticipate reaching orbit with the launch, “the launch pad seems to be intact” after the two-stage rocket landed into the sea.

The Norwegian public company that runs the spaceport, Andoya Space, announced that “crisis response” procedures had been triggered in the wake of the “incident.”

According to regional police, there have been no reports of any casualties or damage other than to the rocket itself.

Satellites and other loads can be launched into or out of Earth’s orbit using orbital rockets.