Relations between the northern countries of Western Europe have always been warm after The Second World War and upcoming Sweden’s entry into NATO makes things even easier. Against this background, a recent episode, from which goosebumps ran down the skin. Oslo And Stockholmalthough not political in nature, was rather unusual.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry complained that the Swedish government did not immediately inform its neighbors about the alarming accident that happened last Monday: research rocket Sweden deviated from the intended course and fell into Norwegian territory, about 15 kilometers from the border of the two countries.

“The fall of such a missile is a very serious incident and could cause serious damage,” the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “When there is a border violation of this kind, it is imperative that the perpetrators immediately inform the Norwegian Foreign Ministry through the appropriate communication channels,” the authors of the statement emphasize, specifying that there was no official notification from the Swedish government. .

At 7:20 am Monday, the state-owned Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) launched a weightless research rocket from the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden.

The rocket, for unknown reasons, took a slightly longer and deviating course towards the west than planned and reached an altitude of 250 kilometers, where experiments are being carried out in weightlessness. Having completed his mission, he began to return to his base, but due to a malfunction, he fell on the territory of Norway, in a mountainous area at an altitude of about 1000 meters and at a distance of about 10 kilometers from the nearest settlement. When falling, he did not cause any injuries to people or material damage.

In Stockholm, SSC spokesman Filip Olsson released details of the ill-fated flight, stressing that his company had immediately informed the governments of both countries involved, and stated that the SSC would seek to recover its rocket’s payload.

However, a spokeswoman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry stressed that the consent of the Oslo government is necessary for the start of any garbage collection mission on the territory of the country. He added that until yesterday the Norwegian government had not received a corresponding request from Stockholm.

The Swedish Space Corporation was established in 1979, is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Research, while its shares are wholly owned by the state. Its main mission is research in microgravity, astrophysics and atmospheric physics, although it also performs tasks of economic importance, especially in the field of telecommunications. It launches high-altitude rockets and balloons, and the Esrange Space Center is one of the busiest in the world.

The controversial rocket, like TEXUS-58, was part of a European research program under the auspices of the European Space Agency (ESA). The head of the Esrange Rocket and Balloon Center, Marco Kochberg, said of the incident: “We take trajectory deviation like the one we have seen very seriously. We have launched an investigation into the cause, but it is too early to speculate as we await more information.”