
Orbital rocket crashes seconds after take-off in rare European spaceport launch
The flight, from a spaceport in northern Norway, marked the first time a rocket capable of reaching orbit was launched from continental Europe, manufacturer Isar Aerospace said.
The rocket, called Spectrum, was airborne for only around half a minute before dramatically falling into the chilly Norwegian Sea.
Isar Aerospace and other European start-ups are scrambling to seize a segment of a rapidly expanding space race, currently dominated by companies and government-owned entities in the United States and China.
And the company framed Sunday's launch as a step toward that goal, saying in a statement: 'Isar Aerospace met its set goals: After ignition of its first stage, Spectrum successfully lifted off … for its first test flight lasting approximately 30 seconds. This allowed the company to gather a substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions.'
'As a company with European roots, we are proud to have shown that Europe has an enduring capacity for bold thinking and grand achievements,' Daniel Metzler, the company's CEO and co-founder, said in the statement. 'We will be able to serve customers from around the world to bring their satellites into space and to help Europe solve a major blind spot in its security architecture: access to space.'
The European Space Agency, which is made up of 23 member nations, has already launched rockets into orbit, as have companies such as the French-run ArianeGroup. But both have launched flights from outside Europe, mainly at spaceports in the Americas.
Leaders in the space industry include Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has launched hundreds of rockets into orbit.
Europe has historically lagged behind, both in the initial space race of the 1960s and 1970s and the subsequent rush by commercial companies to reach orbit.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's SpaceX Moves Bitcoin For The First Time In 3 Years: Is A Sell-Off Incoming?
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. SpaceX has reportedly moved parts of its Bitcoin holdings after a long period of dormancy. Cryptocurrency intelligence platform Arkham said Tuesday on X that a wallet linked to the Elon Musk-led space exploration and technology company had moved about 1,300 BTC worth over $153 million, marking the first time the wallet has been touched since June 2022. 'SPACEX JUST MOVED BITCOIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS,' Arkham wrote. 'They sent 1.3K BTC ($153M) to a fresh address this morning.' Don't Miss: 7,000+ investors have joined Timeplast's mission to eliminate microplastics— — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different strategies. The report has raised questions about the purpose of the transfer, with moves like this typically indicative of a wallet custody adjustment or an impending sell-off. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Benzinga request for comment. According to Arkham data, the SpaceX-linked wallet still holds nearly 7,000 BTC worth over $830 million. Meanwhile, at last look, the transferred 1,300 BTC has not moved from the recipient address. The recent asset movement comes as SpaceX's lucrative government contracts have reportedly come under scrutiny from the Trump administration following Musk's row with President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, amid this uncertainty, the firm is seeking to raise over $1 billion to secure a $400 billion valuation. Trending: Grow your IRA or 401(k) with Crypto – . SpaceX's Bitcoin Exploration Musk first disclosed that SpaceX had added Bitcoin to its balance sheet in July 2021, without revealing how much the firm had invested in the asset. But reporting from blockchain sleuths suggests that the firm purchased nearly 26,000 BTC for about $860 million in 2021 at an average price of $33,000 per coin. Sometime down the line, however, the reporting suggests that the firm reduced its holdings to just over 8,000 BTC. This aligns with Wall Street Journal findings in August 2023, indicating that the firm had sold the asset. Similarly, Tesla purchased over 43,000 BTC worth $1.5 billion in February 2021, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The firm cited a need 'for more flexibility to diversify and maximize returns' on its cash as the reason for its decision. Like SpaceX, Tesla has also significantly reduced its Bitcoin holdings to just over 11,500 BTC, worth $1.4 billion at last his firms have significantly reduced their Bitcoin holdings in recent years, Musk in 2022 said that he intended not to sell his holdings. He said this while discussing inflation concerns. 'It is generally better to own physical things like a home or stock in companies you think make good products, than dollars when inflation is high,' he said on X at the time. 'I still own & won't sell my Bitcoin, Ethereum or Doge fwiw.' Recently, Musk has stoked speculation that he has been quietly accumulating the asset by liking a post suggesting so. He has also said his proposed political party, the 'America party,' would 'embrace Bitcoin,' slamming fiat as 'hopeless' in the wake of his disillusionment with the government's decision to pass the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill." The act's provisions could add over $3 trillion to the national deficit in the next decade, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office in May. Read Next: A must-have for all crypto enthusiasts: . Image: Shutterstock This article Elon Musk's SpaceX Moves Bitcoin For The First Time In 3 Years: Is A Sell-Off Incoming? originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The US is nearing a trade deal with Europe. Will Trump stand in the way?
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is flying to Scotland to meet directly with President Donald Trump on Sunday, in a sign that a trade deal with America's largest trading partner is within sight. But European diplomats aren't counting on a deal until it is officially rolled out, after being burned before by Trump's penchant for last-minute reversals. That's because the president's modus operandi when it comes to trade deals is clear: He wants to deal one-on-one with foreign leaders, applying an arm twist at the highest level to try and eke out final concessions. That doesn't work as well with the European Union, the 27-nation bloc that makes decisions, literally, by committee. That fundamental issue has turned the talks between the EU and the Trump administration into a series of stops and starts, as negotiators painstakingly piece together compromises, only for them to be slapped down when presented to Trump or European countries. And it's why, even as the von der Leyen-Trump meeting raises hopes of reaching a deal to avoid a stiff U.S. tariff increase Aug. 1, they are not counting on it. 'Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,' said one EU diplomat. 'I guess everyone is quite tense,' said another. Trump himself underscored the uncertainty Friday after touching down in Scotland for what initially was billed as a weekend golf getaway. "I will be meeting with the EU on Sunday and we will be working on a deal. ... Ursula will be here. A highly respected woman. So, we look forward to that. That will be good," he told reporters, adding, "I think we have a good 50-50 chance. That's a lot." Asked about what issues are still under discussion, he replied, "I don't want to tell you what the sticking points are. But the sticking points are having to do with maybe 20 different things. You don't want to listen to all of them." Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration about dealing with the EU, a bloc that he claims was created to 'screw' the U.S. One senior White House official said Trump still holds out hope, however improbable, of cutting deals with individual EU member countries, particularly Germany, whose influential auto sector has been pummeled by Trump's 25 percent tariff on cars and car parts. Per EU rules, however, only the European Commission can negotiate trade deals for member countries, with input from the European Parliament and the heads of state for each nation. 'Yes, it's complicated with the EU,' said the official, who was granted anonymity to describe the president's thinking on the matter. 'But if some of these countries had the opportunity to do a deal with us on their own, they would jump at the chance.' It's true that, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has observed on several occasions, the EU 'has a collective action problem,' with leading economies like Germany and France pushing different priorities and negotiating strategies. Germany's conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has lobbied hard for an accord that would offer some relief to the country's powerful auto industry, while French President Emmanuel Macron has led calls to tough things out with Trump by backing retaliatory tariffs and calling to activate the EU's so-called trade bazooka — the Anti-Coercion Instrument — an all-purpose weapon that would only need supermajority support to hit back against the U.S. But Merz and Macron met in Berlin on Wednesday and pledged to present a united front on trade issues during a series of meetings seeking to bolster a flailing Franco-German relationship. And EU countries on Thursday approved plans to retaliate with tariffs on approximately $109 billion worth of U.S. goods, if no deal materializes and the U.S. ratchets up its duties. More problematic at this point: Trump's penchant for adding his own last-minute spin to the trade agreements his negotiators have spent months hashing out, sometimes to the point where he has sent countries back to the negotiating table. With each of the preliminary deals the administration has reached this summer, Trump has held a final call with the country's leader, using the opportunity to demand additional concessions or alter key terms in his government's favor. That may not work with von der Leyen, who acts on behalf of the bloc's members and doesn't have the discretion to accept last-minute changes. 'I might anticipate that there would be some latitude from the Commission,' said Daniel Mullaney, a former assistant U.S. trade representative who negotiated with Europe. 'But yeah, if something comes in at the last minute which is outside of the realm of what was consulted on with the member states, it could be challenging.' The EU is currently rallying around a deal that would apply a 15 percent tariff on goods from its member states — higher than the current 10 percent rate that Trump imposed on all countries in early April but half the 30 percent rate the president threatened in a July 12 letter. According to four diplomats, who were granted anonymity to discuss the confidential negotiations, the deal would largely mirror an accord the U.S. clinched with Japan earlier this week. Cars and car parts would also see their tariff reduced from the 25 percent duty Trump set on all auto imports in May to 15 percent. Other sectors that got hit by U.S. tariffs, like steel and aluminum, are still under discussion. According to one EU official, the 50 percent tariff Trump has imposed on steel and aluminum remains a key sticking point, as well as other sector-specific tariffs the White House is threatening on industries like pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and aerospace. 'There is total uncertainty on that, what we can get on that,' said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations. Trump on Friday played down the chances of lowering his steel tariffs, telling reporters he did not have much wiggle room to provide more generous terms because 'if I do it for one, I have to do it for all.' The EU has already been close to a deal once before but has been confounded by what they see as Trump's unpredictable behavior. Members said that they had an agreement waiting for Trump's approval earlier this month but that the president rejected it because it was too bureaucratic, according to two EU officials who were briefed on the discussions, granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. One official said Trump "smacked it down for the lack of enough 'wins.'' A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations, said no agreement was reached earlier this month; instead, the EU had sent an offer, and the administration did not find it suitable. The official agreed that any final deal with the EU will be decided by Trump. "He's ultimately the one who makes the deal," the official said. Other world leaders have confronted similar problems — and concluded that the only way to address the issue is to hold one-on-one meetings with Trump, as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is doing this weekend in Scotland. While Starmer and Trump reached a preliminary trade deal in May to lower some U.S. duties on British goods, they have yet to come to hash out the terms for a promised 'alternative arrangement' for steel and aluminum tariffs, a top priority for the British government. The golfing visit is "an opportunity for the PM to build personal rapport with Trump,' said one U.K. government adviser, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the visit. 'They have a good relationship, but this is where Starmer will need to shine in an informal setting." Trump has recently insisted that any trade deal will require other countries to open their markets. The president has claimed that Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam will drop all tariffs on U.S. goods as part of their trade agreements. Officials from those countries, however, have either not substantiated or have publicly challenged those claims. On Tuesday, he announced a deal with Japan in which the country has pledged to lower tariff barriers on U.S.-made cars and import more agricultural goods, like rice. Trump told reporters Friday morning that while he wasn't overly confident about reaching a deal with the EU, he was still more optimistic than he had been about coming to terms with Japan in the days before that agreement was finalized. 'I would have said we have a 25 percent chance with Japan. And they kept coming back, and we made a deal,' he said. Dan Bloom and Andrew McDonald contributed to this story from London. Koen Verhelst contributed from Brussels. Solve the daily Crossword


Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Trump criticized the idea of presidential vacations. His Scotland trip is built around golf.
The White House isn't calling Trump's five-day, midsummer jaunt a vacation, but rather a working trip where the Republican president might hold a news conference and sit for interviews with U.S. and British media outlets. Trump was also talking trade in separate meetings with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump is staying at his properties near Turnberry and Aberdeen, where his family owns two golf courses and is opening a third on Aug. 13. Trump played golf over the weekend at Turnberry and is helping cut the ribbon on the new course on Tuesday. Advertisement He's not the first president to play in Scotland: Dwight D. Eisenhower played at Turnberry in 1959, more than a half century before Trump bought it, after meeting with French President Charles de Gaulle in Paris. But none of Trump's predecessors has constructed a foreign itinerary around promoting vacation sites his family owns and is actively expanding. Advertisement It lays bare how Trump has leveraged his second term to pad his family's profits in a variety of ways, including overseas development deals and promoting cryptocurrencies, despite growing questions about ethics concerns. 'You have to look at this as yet another attempt by Donald Trump to monetize his presidency,' said Leonard Steinhorn, who teaches political communication and courses on American culture and the modern presidency at American University. 'In this case, using the trip as a PR opportunity to promote his golf courses.' A parade of golf carts and security accompanied President Trump at Turnberry, on the Scottish coast southwest of Glasgow, on Sunday. Christopher Furlong/Getty President Trump on the links. Christopher Furlong/Getty Presidents typically vacation in the US Franklin D. Roosevelt went to the Bahamas, often for the excellent fishing, five times between 1933 and 1940. He visited Canada's Campobello Island in New Brunswick, where he had vacationed as a child, in 1933, 1936 and 1939. Reagan spent Easter 1982 on vacation in Barbados after meeting with Caribbean leaders and warning of a Marxist threat that could spread throughout the region from nearby Grenada. Presidents also never fully go on vacation. They travel with a large entourage of aides, receive intelligence briefings, take calls and otherwise work away from Washington. Kicking back in the United States, though, has long been the norm. Harry S. Truman helped make Key West, Florida, a tourist hot spot with his 'Little White House' cottage there. Several presidents, including James Buchanan and Benjamin Harrison, visited the Victorian architecture in Cape May, New Jersey. More recently, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama boosted tourism on Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard, while Trump has buoyed Palm Beach, Florida, with frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate. But any tourist lift Trump gets from his Scottish visit is likely to most benefit his family. 'Every president is forced to weigh politics versus fun on vacation,' said Jeffrey Engel, David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who added that Trump is 'demonstrating his priorities.' Advertisement 'When he thinks about how he wants to spend his free time, A., playing golf, B., visiting places where he has investments and C., enhancing those investments, that was not the priority for previous presidents, but it is his vacation time,' Engel said. It's even a departure from Trump's first term, when he found ways to squeeze in visits to his properties while on trips more focused on work. Trump stopped at his resort in Hawaii to thank staff members after visiting the memorial site at Pearl Harbor and before embarking on an Asia trip in November 2017. He played golf at Turnberry in 2018 before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland. Trump once decried the idea of taking vacations as president. 'Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job,' Trump wrote in his 2004 book, 'Think Like a Billionaire.' During his presidential campaign in 2015, he pledged to 'rarely leave the White House.' Even as recently as a speech at a summit on artificial intelligence in Washington on Wednesday, Trump derided his predecessor for flying long distances for golf — something he's now doing. 'They talked about the carbon footprint and then Obama hops onto a 747, Air Force One, and flies to Hawaii to play a round of golf and comes back,' he said. On the green... Christopher Furlong/Getty ... and in the sand. Christopher Furlong/Getty Presidential vacations and any overseas trips were once taboo Trump isn't the first president not wanting to publicize taking time off. George Washington was criticized for embarking on a New England tour to promote the presidency. Some took issue with his successor, John Adams, for leaving the then-capital of Philadelphia in 1797 for a long visit to his family's farm in Quincy, Massachusetts. James Madison left Washington for months after the War of 1812. Advertisement Teddy Roosevelt helped pioneer the modern presidential vacation in 1902 by chartering a special train and directing key staffers to rent houses near Sagamore Hill, his home in Oyster Bay, New York, according to the White House Historical Association. Four years later, Roosevelt upended tradition again, this time by becoming the first president to leave the country while in office. The New York Times noted that Roosevelt's 30-day trip by yacht and battleship to tour construction of the Panama Canal 'will violate the traditions of the United States for 117 years by taking its President outside the jurisdiction of the Government at Washington.' In the decades since, where presidents opted to vacation, even outside the U.S., has become part of their political personas. In addition to New Jersey, Grant relaxed on Martha's Vineyard. Calvin Coolidge spent the 1928 Christmas holidays at Sapelo Island, Georgia. Lyndon B. Johnson had his 'Texas White House,' a Hill Country ranch. Eisenhower vacationed in Newport, Rhode Island. John F. Kennedy went to Palm Springs, California, and his family's compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, among other places. Richard Nixon had the 'Southern White House' on Key Biscayne, Florida, while Joe Biden traveled frequently to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, while also visiting Nantucket, Massachusetts, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. George H.W. Bush was a frequent visitor to his family's property in Kennebunkport, Maine, and didn't let the start of the Gulf War in 1991 detour him from a monthlong vacation there. His son, George W. Bush, opted for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, rather than a more posh destination. Advertisement Presidential visits help tourism in some places more than others, but Engel said that for some Americans, 'if the president of the Untied States goes some place, you want to go to the same place.' He noted that visitors emulating presidential vacations are out 'to show that you're either as cool as he or she, that you understand the same values as he or she or, heck, maybe you'll bump into he or she.'