Sweden launches research rocket, accidentally hits Norway
- A malfunction caused the rocket to land in the mountains across the border, 10km from the nearest settlement
- The Norwegian foreign ministry expressed irritation with Sweden for not immediately informing it of the crash
A research rocket launched by Sweden Space Corp (SSC) early on Monday from Esrange Space Centre in northern Sweden malfunctioned and landed 15km (9.32 miles) inside neighbouring Norway.
The rocket reached an altitude of 250km (155.34 miles) where experiments were carried out in zero gravity, the agency said in a statement.
“It landed in the mountains at 1,000 metres altitude, and 10km from the closest settlement,” Philip Ohlsson, head of communications at SSC, said on Tuesday.
There are routines in place when things go wrong and we inform both Swedish and Norwegian governments, and other actors, he said.
Work on retrieving the payload is under way and an investigation is being launched to determine the technical details behind the unplanned flight path, the agency said.