South Korea’s first commercial orbital rocket crashes seconds after launch PHOTO

South Korea’s first commercial orbital rocket, the Hanbit-Nano, launched from Brazil on December 23, but crashed shortly after liftoff.

According to the operator Innospace Co., the rocket incident occurred on the night of December 23 due to a technical malfunction in the rocket, Caliber.Az reports per Yonhap news agency.

However, the company said it fell back to the ground just 30 seconds later.

The crash occurred within a designated safety zone, and no casualties or additional damage were reported. Flames were visible immediately after liftoff during the YouTube livestream, which ended soon afterwards.

The Hanbit-Nano was carrying five satellites planned for deployment into a 300-kilometre low Earth orbit. A successful launch would have made Innospace the first private South Korean company to place a customer satellite in orbit.

The two-stage rocket used a 25-ton hybrid engine for the first stage, while the second stage was powered by a liquid methane and oxygen engine. The launch had already been postponed three times since the initial date of November 22.

By Jeyhun Aghazada