German launch services provider Isar Aerospace has completed the first successful launch of its Spectrum rocket, deploying five CubeSats into low Earth orbit. The mission marked the first time a privately funded European orbital rocket had successfully reached orbit and the first successful orbital launch from continental Europe.
The Spectrum rocket lifted off from Andøya Spaceport in Norway at 20:12 UTC on 5 September. The mission’s livestream ended 18 minutes after liftoff following an expected loss of signal from the onboard cameras. Before losing the live feed, the rocket had successfully completed stage separation, upper-stage ignition, fairing deployment, and upper-stage engine cutoff. The mission’s final updates were shared on Isar Aerospace’s X account.
After a circularisation burn, the company announced at 10:14 UTC that all five CubeSats aboard the rocket had been successfully deployed.
We achieved within a few years what had taken the European space industry decades before,” said Isar Aerospace CEO Daniel Metzler. “Europe now has sovereign access to space. We have entered into a new chapter for European spaceflight. I am incredibly proud of our team, that has made this success story from Europe possible. We will now focus on rapidly scaling launch vehicle production, deliver on our order pipeline, and meet surging global demand.”
The successful launch of the second Spectrum flight follows a series of aborted attempts dating back to January. An initial attempt was called off due to a pressurisation valve issue, while a March campaign was first delayed by poor weather and later scrubbed after an unauthorised boat entered the exclusion zone. An April attempt was halted because of a leak in a composite overwrapped pressure vessel, and another attempt in June was called off after the company detected off-nominal behaviour in the rocket’s fluid systems.
In January, the company said its next five Spectrum rockets were in various stages of production. In a preflight statement, it also said production at its new headquarters was “starting.” The new facility is expected to eventually support the production of up to 40 rockets per year. Both its work on preparing several flights in advance and its expansion are intended to support the company’s transition from its now-completed qualification flight to operational missions, allowing it to begin addressing a growing order backlog.
