German startup Isar Aerospace launched its Spectrum rocket from the Andøya spaceport on Sunday at 6:30 a.m. ET for its first test flight. The rocket successfully lifted off from its launchpad and spent around 30 seconds in the air before it started falling back down toward the Arctic Ocean, creating a massive fireball over the water.

The first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off Sunday, in a closely watched test for the continent's bid to build a new space economy. Spectrum's blast-off was the first of an orbital launch vehicle from the European continent,

Rocket start-up Isar Aerospace has become the first company to attempt a vertical launch into orbit from western Europe, but its two-stage Spectrum launcher pitched over and crashed back to earth within seconds of lift-off.