Europe’s first commercial rocket exploded during testing at a spaceport in Scotland

Media giant BBC shared a video of the epic explosion of the first stage of a rocket from the German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), which occurred on August 19 at the SaxaVord spaceport in Scotland. RFA has promised to launch Europe’s first private rocket, RFA ONE, by the end of 2024. For obvious reasons, this will not happen, although there remains the potential possibility of launching a rocket from another private company – the Skyrora company with Ukrainian roots.

Image source: BBC

The event should not be dramatized. This is part of the normal workflow. The same Elon Musk literally blew up dozens of prototype stages and rockets before achieving results. The SaxaVord spaceport on the islet of Unst off the coast of Scotland is still not completed, and its funding is in question. RFA conducted a series of static fire tests on the first stage engines of the RFA ONE rocket with unknown results. According to rumors, only a small part of the engines were started. Therefore, the readiness of the cosmodrome for launches and the maturity of the prototype may be exaggerated.

The situation is approximately the same for another European private owner – the Scottish startup Skyrora, created by Ukrainian entrepreneur Vladimir Levykin. A distinctive feature of Skyrora rockets will be a 3D printed rocket engine. A year ago, Skyrora conducted static fire tests of the next prototype, while the previous one sank at sea a year earlier.

Amid RFA’s failure, Polish developers have distinguished themselves by sending the country’s first liquid-fuel rocket beyond the Karman line last month, putting a Polish rocket into space for the first time. Europe strives to stay at the forefront of progress in space programs. The heavy Ariane-6 rocket is not perfect, but it finally took off into orbit for the first time. The light rocket is being restored after an accident with Ukrainian-made nozzles and may return to launches towards the end of the year or next year.