Norway reacts after territory hit by neighbor’s rocket

Oslo has accused Stockholm of creating “a very serious incident”

Norway has said Sweden should have informed it more quickly after a Swedish rocket malfunctioned and crashed on Norwegian territory earlier this week.

A research rocket launched by the government-owned Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) deviated from its course on Monday and came down in a mountainous area of the neighboring country.

The crash occurred around 10km (6 miles) from the closest settlement, and resulted in no injuries or material damage.

The SSC said that it had contacted the Swedish and Norwegian authorities “shortly after landing,” but the Foreign Ministry in Oslo argued on Tuesday that the Swedish agency had not acted fast enough.

“The ministry didn’t get formal notification, and when an incident like this happens across the border it’s important that those responsible immediately inform the Norwegian authorities through proper channels,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ragnhild Simenstad said.

The official insisted that “the crash of a rocket like this is a very serious incident that can cause serious damage,” adding that the fuel may have been contaminated or the rocket itself could have contained other poisonous materials.

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“We just want to expect the proper rules are followed,” Simenstad added, addressing the Swedish authorities.

Norway’s Civil Aviation Authority has also complained that it only learned of the crash from an SSC press release published on Monday.

The SSC said on Tuesday that the rocket’s payload had been recovered in good condition and delivered to Esrange Space Center, from where it was originally launched. The TEXUS-58 rocket was part of a program commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA), and was intended to perform three experiments in microgravity, according to the statement by the agency.

“This is a deviation that we take seriously. We are now investigating the reason why the rocket flew further northwest than nominal. It is still too early to speculate about the cause, and we await more information from the current investigation,” said Marko Kohberg, head of rocket and balloon operations at Esrange Space Center.

Unlike Sweden, Norway is not a member of the EU, although the two Scandinavian neighbors enjoy close relations, making the rocket incident a rare falling-out between the pair.