Swedish research rocket accidentally crashes in Norway

Norway's foreign ministry expressed displeasure with Sweden for failing to immediately inform them about a research rocket that crashed into Norway.

The rocket, which was launched on Monday from Sweden's Esrange Space Centre, crashed into a mountainside in Norway's far north, about six miles from the closest inhabited area.

The Swedish Space Corporation, in a statement on Monday, said the rocket took a slightly longer and more westerly trajectory than calculated, and landed 15 km (9.3 miles) into Norway.

What we know about the crash

According to the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), a research rocket launched from the Esrange Space Centre in northern Sweden on Monday malfunctioned and landed 9.32 miles inside neighboring Norway.

It reached an altitude of 155.34 miles where experiments were carried out in zero gravity.

"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 Reuters news agency. There are routines in place when things go wrong, he added.

The SSC said that both Norwegian and Swedish authorities were contacted — including the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norwegian Armed Forces (FOH).

Norway's foreign ministry said that the crash of a rocket like this was "a very serious incident that can cause serious damage."

"The Norwegian authorities take any unauthorised activity on the Norwegian side of the border very seriously," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, adding that no formal notification of the incident had been given by Swedish authorities.

Norway's Civil Aviation Authority said it had learned of the crash from the SSC's press release issued on Monday.

tg/kb (AFP, Reuters)