Tokyo-headquartered Astroscale Holdings has selected Isar Aerospace to launch its ELSA-M orbital debris removal demonstration mission no earlier than 2028.
Isar Aerospace is preparing for the second flight of its two-stage rocket, Spectrum, after the first flight failed shortly after liftoff in early 2025. The launch is currently scheduled for no earlier than 19 March from the Andøya Spaceport in Norway.
On 13 March, Astroscale announced that its UK subsidiary had signed a launch contract with Isar Aerospace to launch its ELSA-M mission, which will demonstrate the safe removal of multiple satellites from orbit once they have reached the end of their operational lives. While the development of ELSA-M has been primarily funded privately by the company, the project has also received support from the UK Space Agency through the European Space Agency’s Connectivity and Secure Communications programme.
According to Astroscale, the ELSA-M demonstrator is expected to be launched aboard a Spectrum rocket in “FY2028 or later.” This projection represents a two-year delay from the expected 2026 launch date that the company was still sharing as recently as June 2025.
In its announcement, the company noted that Isar Aerospace will conduct “multiplier launches” of its Spectrum rocket before carrying the ELSA-M demonstrator, which will “enhance the reliability of the launch vehicle.” It is unclear whether these planned launches ahead of the mission are related to the revised launch timeline.
While the company is preparing for a second attempt to achieve the first successful flight of its Spectrum rocket, Isar Aerospace is also working to ramp up to an operational launch cadence, revealing in January that the rockets for flights three to seven were already in production. The company is also working on multiple projects to increase its industrial capacity.
On 4 February, Isar Aerospace announced that it will be expanding its testing facilities at the Esrange Space Centre in Sweden. The new facilities will enable the company to test 30 of its Aquila rocket engines per month. The company is also in the final stages of building out its new 40,000-square-metre headquarters near Munich. Once complete, the facility will have the capacity to produce up to 40 Spectrum rockets per year.
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