Swedish research rocket flies off course, accidentally lands in Norway

A microgravity research rocket launched by Sweden on Monday morning accidentally landed inside Norway, the Swedish Space Corporation said in a statement Tuesday. 

The rocket reached an altitude of about 155 miles, but then it “took a slightly longer and more westerly trajectory than calculated” and landed in a mountain range about 9 miles into Norwegian territory, the SSC said. 

“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.

Shortly after landing, Swedish and Norweigan authorities were notified, the SSC confirmed later on Tuesday. The rocket and its payload were found to be in good condition and were transported back to Esrange Space Center in Sweden by helicopter.

“This is a deviation that we take seriously. We are now investigating the reason why the rocket flew further northwest than nominal. It is still too early to speculate about the cause, and we await more information from the current investigation,” Marko Kohberg, rocket and balloons operations manager at Esrange, said to the SSC.