Tag: Crashes

Solar Impulse 2, Famous for Around-the-World Flight, Crashes Into Gulf Waters

Aerotime reports, “Solar Impulse 2, the experimental solar-powered aircraft which became famous in 2016 after completing a global circumnavigation, has crashed into the sea off the coast of Mississippi on May 4, 2026.  The experimental aircraft was operating for Skydweller Aero, a company developing long-endurance, solar-powered platforms for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. This US-Spanish company acquired Solar Impulse 2 in 2019 and converted it to an unmanned aircraft for use in its own development programs.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

 

 

 Video

The Skydweller aircraft
(New Scientist; YouTube)

GA-ASI YFQ-42A CCA Prototype Crashes During California Test Flight

Aerotime reports, “A General Atomics YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft prototype crashed shortly after takeoff in the California desert on April 6, 2026, dealing the US Air Force’s flagship drone-wingman program its first known flight mishap. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) said the incident occurred at approximately 13:00 Pacific time at a company-owned airport. No one was injured. The company has temporarily paused flight test operations while it investigates the root cause.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

Video

YFQ-42A CCA Flight Testing | Credit: General Atomics; YouTube

Prime Air Drone Falls in Residential Area During Texas Test Operations

Aerotime reports, “An Amazon Prime Air delivery drone made contact with an apartment building in Richardson, Texas, before breaking apart and crashing to the ground, according to local authorities and shown in video recorded by a nearby resident. The incident occurred on February 4, 2026, in a residential area where Amazon has been conducting limited drone delivery operations.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

First Australian-built Orbital Rocket Crashes Shortly After Liftoff

The Guardian reports, “The Eris rocket was built by Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space and briefly blasted off from the Bowen orbital spaceport in north Queensland on Wednesday morning, after months of waiting for the right conditions. The spaceship hovered for less than a minute before crashing in a giant plume of smoke, but it was history-making nonetheless – the attempted launch of an orbital rocket designed and made in Australia.”
Full Story (The Guardian) 

 Video

First Australian-made rocket crashes 14 seconds after liftoff.
Firstpost; YouTube

Soviet Venus Lander Kosmos 482 Crashes Into Sea After 53 Years in Orbit

SPACE reports, “A failed Soviet Venus lander’s long space odyssey has come to an end. The Kosmos 482 probe crashed to Earth today (May 10) after circling our planet for more than five decades. Reentry occurred at 2:24 a.m. ET (0624 GMT or 9:24 a.m. Moscow time) over the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Kosmos 482 appears to have fallen harmlessly into the sea.”
Full Story (SPACE)

DART Mission Successfully Crashes into Asteroid

The Conversation reports that NASA “has crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to push the rocky traveler off its trajectory.” The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully collided into Dimorphos’ center. The image “taken at 11 seconds before impact and 42 miles (68 kilometers) from Dimorphos shows the asteroid centered in the camera’s field of view.”
Full Story (The Conversation)

 

 

 

 Video

NASA’s Official Broadcast of DART’s Impact with Asteroid Dimorphos, September 26, 2022
(NASA; YouTube)