Dec 23 (Reuters) – South Korean satellite launch company Innospace launched its first commercial rocket from Brazil's Alcantara space center on Monday, a major milestone for the company and Brazil's aerospace ambitions that ended in disaster.
The HANBIT-Nano vehicle took off at 22:13 Brazilian time (0113 GMT), five days later than originally planned.
Just two minutes after launch live broadcast the official livestream showed a message that an “anomaly” had occurred during the flight. The live broadcast ended immediately.
According to the Brazilian Air Force, the missile began its vertical trajectory as planned, but a malfunction caused it to fall to the ground. The Air Force statement added that officials and firefighters were dispatched to analyze the wreckage and the impact site.
Innospace did not provide further information about the launch and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company's South Korea-listed shares fell about 24% in afternoon trading after the crash, its biggest intraday drop since August.
The launch was delayed from Wednesday due to a malfunction in the cooling element of the first stage oxidizer system during final checks, and then again on Friday for several hours due to adverse weather conditions.
In a previous statement, Innospace said it replaced the component on the launch pad, allowing the Spaceward mission to continue within the Dec. 16-22 launch window. It launched eight registered payloads, including five small “satellites”, for unknown clients.
The Brazilian Air and Space Agency offered operational support for the launch in coordination with key agencies.
In March 2023, Innospace launched its HANBIT-TLV test vehicle from the same facility in northeast Brazil to test “the performance of its 150 kN hybrid rocket motor.”
(Reporting by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Jamie Freed)
