nuclear-news

Rocket Report: Norway’s nuclear rocket concerns.

Ars Technica 28 Oct 22

Norway has nuclear concerns about rocket launches? In what can charitably be described as an “odd take” on its local spaceport, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has published an article asking whether the Andøya spaceport could trigger a nuclear war. The concern appears to be that the launch of Isar Aerospace’s new Spectrum rocket, probably next year, will trigger Russia into believing it is about to be attacked by nuclear warheads.

There is some historical precedent … In January 1995, Norwegian and US scientists launched a Black Brant-sounding rocket from Andøya. This alarmed Russian observers, who feared a high-altitude nuclear attack that could blind Russian radar, and accordingly the “nuclear briefcase” was brought to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Fortunately, before he had to decide whether to order a retaliatory strike, Russian observers determined that there was no nuclear attack. Presumably, communications about forthcoming rocket launches will be better a quarter of a century later. (submitted by SvenErik1968)……… more https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/10/rocket-report-amazon-may-consider-launching-on-spacex-a-canadian-space-race/

October 28, 2022 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized