Isar Aerospace CEO Daniel Metzler has stated that he would consider the first flight of its Spectrum rocket a success if it doesn’t “blow up the launch site.”
The German rocket builder’s two-stage Spectrum rocket will stand 28 metres tall and is designed to be capable of delivering payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The company is currently working towards an inaugural flight of Spectrum, which will be launched from the Andøya Spaceport in Norway.
During an interview at the Handelsblatt innovation conference, Isar CEO Daniel Metzler was asked what he would consider a successful inaugural flight of Spectrum.
“For me, the first flight will be a success if we don’t blow up the launch site,” explained Metzler. “That would probably be the thing that would set us back the most in terms of technology and time.”
He went on to explain that the company’s “test early and improve iteratively” development approach was inherently risky. However, he added that the other option would be to “spend 15 years researching, doing simulations, and then getting it right the first time.”
“The first flight is a milestone, but the first flight is not the goal,” said Metzler. “The goal is more to get to the hundredth or thousandth rocket launch.”
The company’s focus on the future appears to extend to its sales department. According to Metzler, the company has sold out flights of Spectrum until the end of 2026. It is now working on selling flights that will occur between 2027 and 2031.
While Handelsblatt editor-in-chief Sebastian Matthes suggested in his questioning of Metzler that the inaugural flight of Spectrum could occur in “just a few weeks,” the CEO avoided making any comment on a possible launch date. However, recent activity at the company’s launch site in Norway does seem to suggest that it is in the process of testing at the very least.
In late August, Andøya Space published a notice of road closures between 30 August and 13 September. The reason given for the closures was “operational activities” at Andøya Spaceport. Since Isar currently has exclusive use of the facility’s only launch pad, it stands to reason that the operational activities in question were being conducted by the company. Isar has not made any public announcements of ongoing testing. This is, however, not all that unusual for the company.
