Isar Aerospace, based in Germany, is the first in a crop of new European rocket companies to attempt an orbital launch. If all went according to plan, Isar's Spectrum rocket would have arced to the north from Andøya Spaceport in Norway and reached a polar orbit.

Spectrum lifted off from Norway’s picturesque Andøya Spaceport and cleared the launch pad. But after about 30 seconds, the vehicle activated its flight termination system, shutting down its engines and sending it tumbling nose-down into the sea “in a controlled manner,” Isar said.

Isar Aerospace managed to launch its Spectrum rocket this past weekend after several aborted attempts, only for it to crash shortly after liftoff in a fiery implosion in the nearby ocean. The rocket appeared to begin a pitch maneuver to push toward its planned retrograde orbit,

A first-of-its-kind European rocket launch ended in the Norwegian Sea when Isar Aerospace's unmanned rocket exploded just 40 seconds after takeoff.

Before this launch on Sunday, Isar Space had stated that it had little hope of reaching orbit on its first attempt.

The first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off Sunday, in a closely watched test for the continent's bid to build a new space economy.