spacetoday.net: First NM spaceport launch fails

Posted: Tue, Sep 26, 2006, 7:18 AM ET (1118 GMT)
The inaugural launch from a new commercial spaceport in New Mexico failed when a sounding rocket lost control and fell far short of its planned peak altitude. The SpaceLoft XL rocket, built by UP Aerospace, lifted off from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico at 4:14 pm EDT (2014 GMT). Several seconds after liftoff, though, the rocket lost control. Company officials said that the rocket experienced "an unexpected aerodynamic problem" as the rocket approached the speed of sound. The rocket reached a peak altitude of about 12 kilometers, far short of the planned goal of over 110 km. The rocket landed west of the White Sands Missile Range, and is expected to be recovered on Tuesday. The launch itself has been delayed over six hours because of technical problems. The launch was the first for the new commercial spaceport, which will eventually host suborbital passenger spaceflights by Virgin Galactic.