Rocket crashes in Brazil’s first commercial launch; Innospace shares tumble

Dec 23 (Reuters) – The first-ever commercial rocket launched at Brazil’s Alcantara Space Center crashed soon after liftoff late on Monday, dealing a blow to Brazilian aerospace ambitions and shares of South Korean satellite launch company Innospace.

The rocket began its vertical trajectory as planned after liftoff at 10:13 p.m. local time (0113 GMT) but fell to the ground after something went wrong 30 seconds into its flight, Innospace CEO Kim Soo-jong said in a letter to shareholders.

The craft crashed within a pre-designated safety zone and did not harm anyone, he said. Brazil’s air force said firefighters were sent to analyze the wreckage and impact zone.

“We are deeply sorry that we failed to meet the expectations of our shareholders who supported our first commercial launch,” the CEO wrote in the letter, which was posted on the company’s website on December 23.

Innospace shares plunged nearly 29% in Seoul in its biggest daily drop and heaviest daily trading volume since its July 2024 listing.

A failed satellite launch at Alcantara in 2003 killed 21 people, including senior engineers, when a rocket exploded on the launchpad, setting Brazil’s space program back by a generation.

Plans for foreign firms to resume satellite launches from Alcantara, located strategically near the equator, were delayed by geopolitical jockeying over the past decade, including competing offers to partner with the United States and Russia.

The launch of the HANBIT-Nano vehicle this month suffered a string of delays that pushed back liftoff by five days.

The launch was initially postponed due to a mechanical anomaly in a cooling-unit component, which was found during final inspections, Innospace said in an earlier statement.

Innospace replaced the component on the launchpad, it said, allowing the Spaceward mission to proceed within its December 16-22 launch window. It was launching eight registered cargoes, including five small satellites, for undisclosed customers.

While the mission did not go to plan, data gathered from the rocket’s short flight represents “a significant achievement,” Innospace said, adding that the company plans to attempt another commercial launch in the first-half of 2026. 

In March 2023, Innospace launched its test vehicle HANBIT-TLV from the same facility in northeast Brazil to verify the performance of its 150 kN hybrid rocket engine.

(Reporting by Fernando Cardoso and Oliver Griffin; Editing by Brad Haynes, Jamie Freed, Philippa Fletcher)