A Norwegian government announcement has revealed that Isar Aerospace expects to conduct the inaugural flight of its two-stage Spectrum rocket within the “next few months.”
In September 2024, an Isar spokesperson told European Spaceflight that all components for its first Spectrum rocket had arrived at Andøya Spaceport in Norway. Isar also confirmed that static fire tests of the rocket’s first and second stages had already begun. This statement was further corroborated by a series of closure notices published by Andøya Space, the majority government-owned company that manages the spaceport. However, the closure notices from Andøya Space dried up toward the end of November 2024, with neither company publicly announcing a reason behind the suspension of testing.
On 16 January, the Norwegian government announced that it had signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement with the United States that would allow US rocket builders to conduct launches from Andøya Spaceport. As part of this announcement, Isar was identified as having entered into a long-term agreement with Andøya Space to launch Spectrum rockets from the facility. The announcement went on to state that Isar “expects to make its first launch within the next few months.”
Earlier today, Andøya Space published a new closure notice covering testing from Andøya Spaceport between 23 January and 9 February. The notice includes a warning of “increased noise levels” for a few minutes per day. It also adds that there will be “a rumbling sound interspersed with cracking and creaking sounds.”
In response to a LinkedIn post published by European Spaceflight covering the closure notice, the Norwegian Space Agency Head of Industry Policy, Rune Eriksen, alluded to a cause for the suspension of testing toward the end of 2024. “The weather forecast is promising. Not like [the] end of 2024 when the fire was extinguished every time we tried to light the fuse.” With the weather improving on the European continent, the sun may just bring the Isar Spectrum rocket out of hibernation.
