Innospace Rocket Crashes 30 Seconds After Liftoff in Brazil, Halting South Korea's First Commercial Satellite Launch

South Korea’s bid to join the commercial space race hit a major snag as Innospace Co.'s Hanbit-Nano rocket, the nation's first commercial orbital vehicle, crashed just seconds after its launch from Brazil. According to the company, the rocket lifted off on Tuesday (Korean time) but fell back to Earth 30 seconds later due to an unspecified "abnormality," shelving the startup's ambition to become the country's first private entity to place a customer satellite into orbit.

A 30-Second Flight to Failure

The launch took place at the Alcantara Space Center at 10:13 p.m. Monday, local time. Flames were reportedly visible on the launch's YouTube livestream immediately after liftoff, which was cut short. Innospace confirmed the vehicle crashed within a designated ground safety zone, resulting in no casualties or additional damage. The mission's objective was to deploy a payload of five satellites into a 550-kilometer low Earth orbit. This attempt followed three postponements since the original launch date of November 22.

From Setback to Data: Innospace Vows Relaunch

The Hanbit-Nano is a two-stage rocket, powered by a 15-ton thrust Hanbit 15 in its first stage and a liquid methane-oxygen engine in the second. Despite the failure, the company is framing the event as a crucial learning experience. In a letter to shareholders, CEO Kim Soo-jong stated, "Although this launch did not reach the final outcome originally planned, it is a very meaningful achievement that we successfully secured flight, propulsion and operational data that can only be obtained in an actual flight environment." Innospace plans to attempt another launch in the first half of next year after a thorough improvement process.