Norway criticised Sweden for not notifying the country before launching its research rockets after one of them malfunctioned and landed in the territory of its neighbouring country.
Sweden launched the rocket on Monday at 07:20 local time (05:20 GMT) from the Esrange Space Centre, before it fell into a Norwegian mountain range.
The centre’s owner Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), which has also been running it, issued an apology and said that it is investigating the case.
However, Sweden still faced criticism from Norway for not formally notifying the nation regarding the launch.
As per the SSC, the rocket initially touched an altitude of 250km (155 miles) and then fell into zero gravity, where experiments were being conducted by them.
The rocket then made a landing 40km northwest of the landing site in Malselv municipality which is located in the north of Norway, around 10km from the closest inhabited area.
“It landed in the mountains at 1,000 metres altitude, and 10km from the closest settlement,” said Philip Ohlsson, head of communications at SSC.
“There are routines in place when things go wrong and we inform both Swedish and Norwegian governments, and other actors,” he added.
No one suffered any injuries and no damage to material was reported.
The scientific instrument, known as the payload, was onboard the rocket and after its failed landing was recovered in “good condition” and was sent back to Esrange through a helicopter, as per the SSC.
“This is a deviation that we take seriously,” stated Marko Kohberg from the Esrange Space Centre.
“It is still too early to speculate about the cause, and we await more information from the current investigation,” he added.
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The SCC stated that, after the incident, they were shortly contacted by the Norwegian and Swedish authorities “according to routine”.
However, the foreign ministry of Norway has stated that they were not properly informed about either the landing of the rocket or its payload’s recovery and that any unauthorised activity which takes place within its borders is taken seriously by them.
“The crash of a rocket like this is a very serious incident that can cause serious damage,” the foreign ministry said.
“When such a border violation occurs, it is crucial that those responsible immediately inform the relevant Norwegian authorities through the proper channels,” it stated.
The rocket, which is known as Texus-58, is part of the European programme which was commissioned by the European Space Agency.
(With inputs from agencies)
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