The first flight of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket didn't last long on Sunday. The booster's nine engines switched off as the rocket cartwheeled upside-down and fell a short distance from its Arctic launch pad in Norway, punctuating the abbreviated test flight with a spectacular fiery crash into the sea.

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,