Debut launch of low cost private US space rocket fails

Spaceloft XL rocket, a private US space rocket equipped with 50 experiments and other small payloads including cremated remains and school science projects, crashed minutes after take off on Monday, baffling its mission to reach the space.

The 20-foot (6 meters) tall, single-stage solid-fuel rocket, SpaceLoft XL was making its debut flight and was launched at 2:14 p.m. local time (2014 GMT) from Spaceport America, located in Upham, New Mexico.

The low cost carrier rocket, designed by the UP Aerospace turned aside from its course at an altitude of about 12,190m (40,000ft) and crashed in the desert launch site. After traveling into space, the rocket and its payloads were expected to land in the downrange area of the Spaceport.

According to the world's premier supplier of low-cost space access, the rocket which was UP Aerospace's most powerful rocket, could haul a 110-pound (50 kilogram) payload on a 100-mile-high (161 kilometers) suborbital arc and at the time of blast off, it was expected to accelerate five times the speed of sound, nearly 3,400 miles per hour (nearly 5,000 km per hour), in just 13.5 seconds.

It had to reach the international definition of space, 62 miles or 100 kilometers, in just a minute-and-a-half and achieve a flight apogee of about 70 miles (113 kilometers) shortly thereafter, the company informed. On contrary the rocket reached an altitude of only 11 km and then unsuccessfully turned back to Earth, said Jerry Larson, president of UP Aerospace.

The company had believed that its unique SpaceLoft XL rocket would provide the world’s lowest cost-per-pound of any space-transportation vehicle.

The reason for the malfunction of Rocket's launch is yet ambiguousand the organizers have only described the incident as "an unexpected aerodynamic effect." Launch co-coordinator, Tracey Larson hoped it was possible that the rocket and its payload could have survived the crash.

UP Aerospace said it planned several other launches later this year. The company had nine flights booked for a year, bearing payloads of up to 50kg up to the edge of space on a solid-fuel rocket.

Monday's failure is not the first which represents the private launch debut this year rather on March 24, a privately-developed Falcon 1 rocket, designed by California-based Space Exploration Technologies, malfunctioned just after takeoff.