A Swedish research rocket accidentally crashed in Norway – DW – 04/26/2023

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its dissatisfaction with this Sweden For failing to immediately report a research rocket that crashed in Norway.

The rocket, launched Monday from Sweden’s Esrange Space Center, crashed into a mountainside in far north Norway, six miles from the nearest inhabited area.

The Swedish Space Corporation said, in a statement on Monday, that rocket It took a slightly longer and westerly course than calculated, and landed 15 km (9.3 mi) in Norway.

What we know about the accident

According to the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), a research rocket launched from the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden on Monday malfunctioned and fell 9.32 miles into neighboring Norway.

It reached an altitude of 155.34 miles, where the experiments were carried out in zero gravity.

“It fell in the mountains at an altitude of 1,000 meters and ten kilometers from the nearest settlement,” Philip Olsson, head of communications at SSC, told the Reuters news agency. He added that there is a routine when things go wrong.

The State Security Court said that the Norwegian and Swedish authorities – including the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Armed Forces (FOH) – had been contacted.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said that the fall of such a missile is “a very serious accident that could cause serious damage.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said that “Norwegian authorities take any unauthorized activity on the Norwegian side of the border very seriously,” adding that no official notification of the incident had been given by Swedish authorities.

The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority said it learned of the crash from the press release issued by SSC on Monday.

tg / kb (AFP, Reuters)