Norway irked by crash of Swedish research rocket

The Norwegian foreign ministry has conveyed its irritation with Sweden for not alerting it immediately about a research rocket that crashed in Norway, causing a rare disagreement between the neighboring countries.

The rocket was launched from Sweden's Esrange Space Center on Monday, and landed 15 kilometers inside Norway's northern border, 10 km from any populated area, reported the Agence France-Presse, or AFP, news service. The Swedish Space Corporation has admitted the rocket took a longer, more westerly trajectory than anticipated.

"The crash of a rocket like this is a very serious incident that can cause serious damage," the foreign ministry in Oslo said. "When such a border violation occurs, it is crucial that those responsible immediately inform the relevant Norwegian authorities through the proper channels."

No one was injured and no material damage was reported, noted AFP.

The rocket had been launched to conduct zero-gravity experiments at an altitude of 250 kilometers, said the Swedish Space Corporation, or SSC, in a statement on Monday.

It explained that the research rocket was part of a European program commissioned by the European Space Agency, and said a malfunction had caused the rocket to deviate from its planned landing site at Esrange Space Center and crash inside neighboring Norway, 40 km away. The SSC said an investigation had been launched to uncover the cause of the misdirection.

The SSC later reported that the rocket was successfully recovered on Tuesday and was in good condition. It said the rocket was then transported back to the SSC by helicopter.

"This is a deviation that we take seriously," said Marko Kohberg, head of rocket and balloon operations at Esrange Space Center. "We are now investigating the reason why the rocket flew farther northwest than normal. It is still too early to speculate about the cause."

In the statement, Philip Ohlsson, head of communications at the SSC, confirmed the rocket had landed 10 km from the nearest settlement, in an unpopulated area. He said that when such things go wrong, or in case of any issues, the company notifies Sweden and Norway's governments and other relevant entities, following established protocols, reported Reuters news agency.

The head of Esrange Space Center, Lennart Poromaa, was reported to have told Norwegian news website NRK that Norwegian defense officials had prior knowledge of the rocket launch and had been informed when it landed in Norway. NRK reported this was confirmed by the Norwegian armed forces' operational headquarters.

However, Norway's Civil Aviation Authority said it only discovered the crash through the SSC's press release on Monday, reported AFP.