A European company that seeks to develop orbital spacecraft for cargo, and eventually humans, took a step forward this week with a test flight that saw its Mission Possible vehicle power up and fly successfully in orbit before making a controlled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
However, after encountering an “issue,” the Exploration Company lost contact with its spacecraft a few minutes before touchdown in the ocean.
In an update Tuesday morning on LinkedIn, the company characterized the test flight as a partial success—and a partial failure.
“The capsule was launched successfully, powered the payloads nominally in-orbit, stabilized itself after separation with the launcher, reentered and reestablished communication after black out,”