European startup's space capsule goes missing after reentry.

      Communication with a privately funded European space capsule was lost on Tuesday shortly after the spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere.

      The capsule was launched on a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday. The Exploration Company, which created the spacecraft, characterized the mission as a “partial success” and a “partial failure.”

      “The capsule was successfully launched, powered the payloads nominally in orbit, stabilized itself after separating from the launcher, re-entered, and re-established communication after the blackout,” the Munich-based startup mentioned in a LinkedIn post today.

      “However, an issue arose afterwards, according to our current best understanding, and we lost communication minutes before splashdown,” it added.

      The loss of communication indicates a potential malfunction or anomaly, although the company states it is still examining the underlying cause. It remains unclear whether the spacecraft was damaged or lost entirely. The Exploration Company has not yet responded to our request for comment.

      The launch, named Mission Possible, was the second test flight for The Exploration Company. The company's first mission, Mission Bikini, was a smaller reentry demonstrator launched during the inaugural flight of Ariane 6 in July 2024. Unfortunately, a malfunction in the rocket's upper stage prevented the capsule from completing its intended reentry maneuver, leaving it stuck in orbit.

      Mission Possible carried 300 kilograms of commercial cargo, which included payloads for cosmetic and pharmaceutical research, as well as cremated remains and DNA samples from clients worldwide.

      “We apologize to all our clients who entrusted us with their payloads,” the company expressed.

      We will provide updates to this article as soon as we have more information regarding the status of Mission Possible.