Copenhagen Suborbitals Test Launch: Capsule Survives – Mostly

On August 12, Copenhagen Suborbitals conducted a scheduled test of their Tycho Deep Space Capsule launch escape system.

The launch went according to plan, but not so the landing.

The spacecraft went into a tumble before dropping the capsule into the Baltic Sea at shield-crunching speeds.

“We had perfect launch, but quickly the entire configuration began to tumble,” said Kristian von Bengtson, co-founder of Copenhagen Suborbitals.

“The main chutes clearly did not have complete deployment and the capsule hit water in high speed, buckling the bottom shield.”