Sweden launched a rocket for research purposes, but had a technical problem and crashed into neighboring Norway. The rocket, launched yesterday from the Esrange space center in the north of the country by the Swedish Space Company (SSC), then landed only 15 kilometers away.
Initially, the missile had reached an altitude of 250 kilometers, where some zero-gravity experiments were conducted, the agency said in a statement. “He landed in the mountains at an altitude of 1000 meters and 10 kilometers from the nearest settlement,” Philip Ohlsson, SSC communications director, told Reuters today. “We have routines when things go wrong and we inform the Swedish and Norwegian governments and other actors,” he added.
But Oslo protested the way the situation was handled. “The crash of such a rocket is a very serious accident that could cause serious damage,” the Norwegian foreign ministry said. “When such a border violation occurs, it is very important that those responsible immediately notify the relevant Norwegian authorities through the appropriate channels.” The SSC said it was working to recover the remains and that an investigation would be launched to confirm what caused the “non-nominal flight path”. No casualties or damage were reported from the Texus-58 rocket landing.
A spokesperson said the Norwegian ministry had not received any official notification of the accident from Swedish authorities and that working on Norwegian soil to salvage any debris also requires prior permission. The crash is embarrassing for the launch pad operator, as the European Space Agency (ESA) and some space initiatives have big plans to use the Swedish Esrange site for state-of-the-art tests, including reusable launch systems that can be used. will compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the future.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen officially opened the site in January, but Esrange’s competition with similar facilities to launch smaller payloads into planned orbit for Portugal’s Azores, Norway’s island of Andøya (located about 400 kilometers northwest of Kiruna) there is. and a facility on the Shetland Islands in Scotland.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
