The Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries has granted a launch site operator license to Andøya Spaceport. The new launch facility will host the inaugural flight of the Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket.
Andøya Spaceport was opened in 1962 as a suborbital launch facility, a capability that it has continued to provide over the decades, playing host to well over 1,000 flights. While Andøya Space, the entity that manages the facility, is a private company, Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries holds a 90% stake, with the remaining 10% controlled by the Norwegian aerospace and defense company Kongsberg Defence Systems.
Work on an orbital launch facility began in 2018. In April 2021, German launch provider Isar Aerospace signed a 20-year agreement to secure exclusive access to the spaceport’s first launchpad. In November 2023, the facility, which is located on the island of Andøya in Nordland, was officially inaugurated.
On 22 August 2024, Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries announced that it had officially granted the facility’s launch site operator license. The license allows Andøya Space to conduct a total of 30 launches per calendar year. However, there is a stipulation that only four of the 30 launches can take place at night between 23:00 and 07:00 local time. Flights will be overseen by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority and can be launched in a sector of 280 degrees to 360 degrees.
Isar Aerospace will be the first to utilize the new facility, launching the inaugural flight of its Spectrum rocket. The 28-metre tall two-stage rocket is designed to be capable of delivering payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.
While neither Isar nor Andøya Space has announced an expected launch date, a statement from the German launch provider has revealed that it is in the final stages of testing ahead of the rocket’s inaugural flight.
“Congratulations Andøya Spaceport, for receiving the Launch Site Operator License. This milestone enables our team at Isar Aerospace to continue with our ambitious plan and soon start with the final tests ahead of Spectrum’s first test flight!”
