STOCKHOLM: The launch of a research rocket launched by Sweden Space Corp early on Monday from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden went awry crash-landed in neighbouring Norway’ mountainous regions.
The rocket reached an altitude of 250 km where experiments were carried out in zero gravity, the agency said in a statement.
“It landed in the mountains at 1,000 meters altitude, and 10 kilometers from the closest settlement,” Philip Ohlsson, head of communications at SSC, told media on Tuesday.
A probe has been launched to discern technical defects in the rocket that led to its unplanned crashing. Furthermore, efforts to recover the wreckage have also been put in place. An official communiqué has been issued to the Norwegian government in case of border incursions.
Meanwhile, Norway’s foreign ministry took a stern note of the incident. “The Norwegian authorities take any unauthorised activity on the Norwegian side of the border very seriously,” quoted by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying in an e-mail.
The ministry said it was not aware if the rocket crash caused any damage to the surroundings. A SSC spokesperson, however, maintained that the rocket landed far away from human settlement