The headline is a bit misleading, as if this is a failure or there was an expectation that the rocket would NOT crash. On the contrary. NO space programme in the world has ever managed to ensure that the first test rocket did not crash. The flight time of 18 seconds is also significantly longer than the first SpaceX rocket, for example. The spokesperson from the company “Isar Aerospace” therefore also - rightly - described the launch as a “great success”.

It is not unusual in monarchies for the first-born son to take over the line of succession.