“The mission is lost,” CEO Stéphane Israel said in a livestream to track the rocket.
Kourou, France:
A European space rocket failed minutes after takeoff with the loss of the two satellites it was carrying, its operator said on Tuesday.
The Vega light launcher, which is said to have put Spain’s first satellite into orbit, malfunctioned about eight minutes after being launched from a space center in Kourou, French Guiana.
Having taken off around 11 p.m. local time (0200 GMT), the launcher slowed down before encountering an unidentified “anomaly,” said Arianespace, the company responsible for the launch.
“The mission is lost,” CEO Stéphane Israel said in a livestream to track the rocket.
It’s unclear what caused the failure, but Arianespace said they were working to determine what was wrong.
Vega was supposed to place two satellites – both lost during the mission – about 700 kilometers from Earth.
The mission would have launched Spain’s first Earth observation satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA).
It would also have placed in orbit Taranis, a French satellite which would have observed extremely bright electrical phenomena in the upper atmosphere of the planet.
The launch failure is the second in as many years.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
