Test Rocket Explodes Seconds After Europe’s First Orbital Rocket Launch

It’s been a big year for rocket explosions so far in 2025, with two craft from SpaceX experiencing “rapid unscheduled disassembly” above the Caribbean. Now, the inaugural test flight for a space startup ended in disaster when the first orbital rocket launch on mainland Europe exploded seconds after takeoff.

A test launch from space startup Isar Aerospace was due to become the first orbital rocket launch in mainland Europe with its test flight on Sunday March 30. The startup launched its Uncrewed Spectrum rocket from a facility in Norway, but the craft crashed back to Earth and exploded just seconds after it launched, reports the Guardian.

The rocket was billed as a key milestone for European space companies as it could have paved the way for satellite launches and similar programs on the continent. The launch clearly didn’t go without a hitch, though, and the craft started wobbling shortly after takeoff. It then spun in the air and nosedived into the sea below, where it exploded. 

The Uncrewed Spectrum rocket launched without a satellite onboard. Instead, the launch was all about gathering data for future launches, explained Isar Aerospace in a statement. As such, it claims that in spite of the explosion, the test flight was a success:

“Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System. We demonstrated that we can not only design and build but also launch rockets. I could not be prouder of our entire team for working so hard over the past seven years to reach this important milestone,” said Daniel Metzler, CEO and co-founder of Isar Aerospace.

The European Space Agency also said the launch was a “success to get off the pad,” despite it then exploding into a few thousand pieces when it crash landed into the sea. But hey, what’s a few explosions among friends? 

As a result of the fiery end to the launch, Isar Aerospace says it now has plenty of data to dig through in order to find out what went wrong. Once it’s been able to find the “root cause and iterate the systems” for its launch vehicle, Isar will be able to start planning future launches.

With this in mind, the company is already working on the construction of its second and third launch vehicles. These craft will continue testing the company’s launch systems, which will one day be capable of carrying as much as 2,200lbs worth of stuff into orbit above the Earth.

When the company eventually reaches that milestone, it’ll join dozens of other space startups that are slowly filling Earth’s orbit with all kind of satellites, probes, telescopes and other space junk. It’s estimated that there are more than 11,000 satellites orbiting above Earth today, and that number is only going to rise.