AFP
A European space rocket failed minutes after taking off
with the loss of both satellites it was carrying, its operator said
Tuesday.
The Vega light launcher, which would have placed Spain’s first
satellite into orbit, malfunctioned roughly eight minutes after
launching from a space centre in Kourou, French Guiana.
Having taken off at around 11 pm local time (0200 GMT) the
launcher slowed before it encountered an unidentified “anomaly,”
said Arianespace, the company overseeing the launch.
“The mission is lost,” CEO Stephane Israel said in a livestream
to track the rocket.
It is unclear what caused the failure, but Arianespace said they
were working to determine what went wrong.
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Vega was supposed to place two satellites — both of which were
lost during the mission — around 700 kilometres (435 miles) from
Earth.
The mission would have launched Spain’s first Earth observation
satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA).
It would also have placed into orbit Taranis, a French satellite
that would have observed extremely bright electrical phenomena in
the planet’s upper atmosphere.
The launch’s failure is the second in as many years.
-AFP
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