A test rocket aimed at kickstarting European satellite launches has crashed back to Earth moments after taking flight.

The unmanned Spectrum rocket, which took off from a Norwegian spaceport on Sunday, was billed as the first attempt at an orbital flight to come from Europe.

German start-up Isar Aerospace developed the rocket and had warned ahead of the test that the initial launch could end prematurely. The company said 30 seconds of flight was enough time to register data.

"Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success," the firm's co-founder Daniel Metzler said.

(BBC)