A European company made strides in developing orbital spacecraft with its recent 'Mission Possible' test flight, successfully launching a vehicle that powered payloads in-orbit and reentered Earth's atmosphere. However, contact was lost shortly before its ocean touchdown, leading the company to label the mission a partial success and partial failure. The mission's parachute deployment might have faced issues, and the company is investigating the cause while assuring clients of ongoing communication and improvements.
The capsule was launched successfully, powered the payloads nominally in-orbit, stabilized itself after separation with the launcher, re-entered and re-established communication after black out.
We are still investigating the root causes and will share more information soon. We apologize to all our clients who entrusted us with their payloads.
The parachutes were selected for their 'proven flight heritage', the company said, and were procured from US-based Airborne Systems, which provides parachutes used by SpaceX's Dragon.
Given when the spacecraft was lost, it seems most likely that there was a problem with the deployment of the drogue or main parachutes.
Collection
[
|
...
]