A test of the Nexo I home-made rocket, launched from the Baltic island of Bornholm yesterday, has failed.

Nexo I is part of the Copenhagen Suborbitals space programme and was the project's most advanced rocket yet, but according to the programme's website, the flight "didn't go quite as planned".

Initially the launch went to plan but a few seconds into the flight, it fell back to earth where divers scrambled to retrieve the fuel-loaded rocket from the water.

It was not immediately clear what had gone wrong.

Copenhagen Suborbitals is a crowd funded amateur space programme and on its website it says: "We're 50 geeks building and flying our own rockets. One of us will fly into space".

The members of the team use their spare time to build the rockets while having regular day jobs.

The 5.6 metre rocket, named after the town of Nexo where the Danish space port is located, was the first, fully guided and liquid fuelled rocket built by the group.

In the coming years, the systems and technology tested on Nexo I will be used to build the big Spica rocket and space capsule that will eventually fly an amateur astronaut into space.