Private Company Isar Aerospace Has Launched Its Own Launch Vehicle into Orbit for the First Time in Europe

On September 5, the German company Isar Aerospace successfully launched the Spectrum rocket, becoming the first private European company to launch its own launch vehicle into orbit.

The European Space Agency announced this.

The Spectrum is 28 meters tall and 2 meters in diameter. The rocket is equipped with ten engines and is designed to deliver up to 1,000 kg of payload into low Earth orbit. This launch was also the first from a spaceport on European soil—the Andøya Spaceport.

“This is an impressive achievement by the German company Isar Aerospace, founded just eight years ago and supported by the European Space Agency. This is another step toward a more diverse and autonomous European launch services sector, and I look forward to further achievements,” Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency, noted.

Unlike the 2025 test flight, during this Spectrum launch, Isar Aerospace carried five commercial and educational CubeSat-type satellites on board, as well as experimental equipment that did not separate from the second stage.

The first launch of the Spectrum rocket took place on March 30, 2025, but ended in failure 30 seconds after liftoff.

The cause was a ventilation flap that unexpectedly opened, causing the rocket to lose control and the flight to end in an emergency termination. After analyzing the causes of the failure, the company upgraded the rocket’s software and improved its reliability.

Andøya Spaceport

In November 2023, Andøya—the first spaceport in continental Europe—opened in Norway. Owned by Andøya Space, it is located on the Norwegian island of Andøya.

Andøya Spaceport has several launch pads for sending small and medium-sized satellites into space.

One of the launch pads, as well as the main infrastructure—including the Flight Control Center—is reserved for Isar Aerospace and was built in accordance with the company’s technical specifications.

The first spaceport in continental Europe received authorization to launch satellites in 2024. The license allows the spaceport to conduct up to 30 launches per year, including four at night.

In May 2026, Norway’s Police Security Service (PST) detained a Chinese citizen for complicity in an espionage attempt, the likely target of which may have been the Andøya spaceport. Two other suspects are abroad, presumably in China.