First flight of European orbital launch vehicle ends in a crash

First flight of European orbital launch vehicle ends in a crash

The company had largely ruled out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit, saying it would consider a 30-second flight a success.

The rocket launched on Thursday crashed back to Earth seconds after liftoff, after launching from a rare European spaceport. The spaceport in northern Norway ... ...

A failure in the space race for Europeans. The first rocket launched from the continent crashed less than a minute after takeoff. The German company that produced it plans to carry one-ton satellites into orbit, but also to compete with billionaire Elon Musk and his company SpaceX. Despite the failure, European researchers remain optimistic and say they have collected enough data for future tests to be a success.

Europe tries to catch up in the space conquest against the Americans SpaceX and Blue Origin