Sweden launched research rocket, accidentally fell on Norway, Foreign Ministry got angry on accident

A research rocket launched by Sweden Space Corp from the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden in the early hours of Monday malfunctioned and crashed 15 km (9.32 miles) inside neighboring Norway. The rocket reached an altitude of 250 kilometers where experiments were carried out in zero gravity, the agency said in a statement. It touched down in the mountains at an altitude of 1,000 meters and 10 kilometers from the nearest settlement, Philipp Olsson, head of communications at the SSC, told news agency Reuters. That’s routine when things go wrong and we inform both the Swedish and Norwegian governments and other actors, he said.

The agency said work to retrieve the payload is underway and an investigation is being launched to determine the technical details behind the unplanned flight path. Norway’s foreign ministry expressed displeasure with Sweden for not immediately reporting the accident. He said that such an accident is very serious. It can cause heavy damage. Philipp Olsson, head of communications at the SSC, said the rocket landed in the mountains at an altitude of 1,000 meters and 10 km from the nearest settlement, so no one was feared dead.