First attempt to launch European orbital rocket Spectrum ended in crash, but mission was called success

The Spectrum rocket, which was supposed to be the first orbital rocket launched from Europe, crashed immediately after launch. However, the German company Isar Aerospace, which developed it, predicted this and stated that even a 30-second flight would be a success.

This is what the Gurdian writes.

The rocket launched from the Andoja site in Norway and had no crew. Spectrum stayed in the air for about 30 seconds, began to tilt, smoke, explode and fall into the sea.

After the rocket crash, the company said that it still collected "a significant amount of flight data" and gained "experience for future missions". The 30-second flight of Spectrum was still called a success, because during the flight it was possible to collect useful data.

Spectrum is a two-stage lightweight orbital launch vehicle from Isar Aerospace. It is 28 m high, 2 m in diameter and runs on liquid oxygen and propane. It is designed to launch satellites weighing 700-1,000 kg. During its first test launch in Norway, it flew without cargo.

Recall that in March, the test flight of the Starship rocket of Elon Musk's SpaceX company ended in failure: the rocket fell apart.