South Korea’s 1st commercial orbital rocket crashes after liftoff

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) – South Korea’s first commercial orbital rocket, Hanbit-Nano, crashed shortly after liftoff following a technical issue, its operator Innospace said.

The rocket was launched from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil at 10.13 pm Monday (0113GMT) but crashed about 30 seconds after takeoff, according to the company.

Innospace said the rocket fell within a designated safety zone and no injuries or additional damage were reported, Yonhap News reported.

Flames were visible shortly after liftoff during a YouTube livestream of the launch, which was interrupted moments later.

The rocket was carrying five satellites intended for deployment into a 300-kilometer low-Earth orbit.

Had the mission succeeded, Innospace would have become the first private South Korean company to place a customer satellite into orbit.

The two-stage rocket was powered by a hybrid engine with 25 tons of thrust in its first stage and a liquid methane-oxygen engine in its second stage.

The launch had been postponed three times since its original scheduled date of Nov. 22.

Separately, China’s reusable Long March 12A rocket successfully placed its second stage into orbit during its maiden flight on Tuesday, but recovery of the first stage failed, state-run Xinhua News reported.