The Footage From This Failed Rocket Launch is Spellbinding

“Space is hard,” says an aerospace engineer commenting on a rocket launch video that ends with it exploding into smithereens. But as Dr. Chris Combs also points out, “This is the most picturesque launch failure video I’ve ever seen.”

The rocket in question was made by Isar Aerospace, a German company that became the first European commercial space company to launch an orbital rocket from mainland Europe.

It blasted off from the Arctic Andøya Spaceport yesterday (Sunday) at 12:30 PM local time before crashing back to Earth less than a minute later and exploding.

Nevertheless, Isar’s chief executive still characterizes the launch as an accomplishment.

“Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,” says co-founder Daniel Metzler. “We had a clean lift-off, 30 seconds of flight, and even got to validate our flight termination system.”

The remote region the Andøya Spaceport is situated — in the far north of Norway, a country that extends into the Arctic — makes for compelling visuals as fire and ice come together in an exciting manner.

It is similar to a drone video from last year showing Chinese startup Deep Blue Aerospace testing out a rocket which also crashed to the ground in Inner Mongolia.

Self-evidently, rocket launches are an aesthetic treat for those lucky enough to capture one. Private companies such as SpaceX, which regularly launches orbital rockets, provide excellent photographic opportunities.

Photographer Josh Dury captured a Starlink satellite train passing through the night sky and just last week a giant SpaceX swirl, caused by a rocket fuel dump, appeared over large swathes of Europe.

Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum Rocket is designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit via a two-stage launch vehicle.

Image credits: Courtesy of Isar Aerospace.