The Spectrum rocket from German manufacturer Isar Aerospace takes off on its second test flight. This time everything goes smoothly. It is the first time that a privately developed rocket has reached orbit from the European continent.
The Bavarian space start-up Isar Aerospace has successfully launched a launch vehicle from the Norwegian spaceport Andoya. The unmanned “Spectrum” rocket reached Earth orbit as hoped - the first orbital flight to originate from European soil. The start at 10:12 p.m. was broadcast via live stream. After ten minutes, the video transmission to the ground was interrupted after the missile had exceeded the maximum range of the link. During the first attempt in March 2025, only 30 seconds passed before the crash.
“We are in orbit! And have written European history,” said Isar Aerospace on X. The company, based in Ottobrunn near Munich, celebrated a great success after months of delays and postponing the second test flight four times. Just four minutes after launch, the rocket reached an altitude of around 100 kilometers above the ground - the so-called Karman line, which marks the imaginary boundary to space. The live broadcast showed, among other things, the repulsion of the first stage. The 28-meter-long Spectrum rocket had five scientific satellites from several universities and a scientific experiment on board as payload. It can transport up to one ton.
The rocket was originally supposed to have taken off in January. But the first date was postponed due to a defective valve, and the second attempt in March was interrupted by a Norwegian fisherman who had not left the safety zone in the waters in front of the launch base with his boat in time. In April, launch preparations were canceled due to a leaking pressure vessel, and in June there was another problem. Isar Aerospace wants to launch further launches this year; the construction of the third Spectrum rocket is already well advanced.
“Germany can do space travel,” said Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär in the evening. The fact that a German launch vehicle has reached Earth orbit for the first time is a milestone that demonstrates Germany's ability to innovate and technical knowledge, said the CSU politician.
Almost nothing works right now without SpaceX
Once it is ready for series production, the Spectrum will launch civil and military satellites into low-Earth orbits a few hundred kilometers above the ground. The plan is to produce 40 rockets per year. Both the federal government and the EU and other European countries have a strategic interest in the success of the company with its 400 employees. According to the company, Isar Aerospace has so far raised over half a billion euros in investor money. The young company recently signed a contract for 200 million euros with the European Space Agency (ESA) - part of an ESA program that is intended to accelerate the development of European launch vehicles.
The reason is Europe's current widespread inability to launch satellites into space using its own technology. The vast majority of European satellites have long been launched into space by SpaceX. This is unpopular with European space companies, not least because clients in the USA have to disclose the technical specifications of their satellites. According to Isar Aerospace, the USA launched 198 rockets last year, Europe only eight.
Around 60 percent of the inquiries to Isar Aerospace now come from the military sector, CEO Daniel Metzler reported in the spring. Accordingly, Isar Aerospace is already fully booked with orders worth several hundred million dollars until 2028, even though the rocket is not ready for series production.
However, the Bavarian Spectrum rocket will not be able to reach higher altitudes in space even if it reaches series production one day. The French-German ArianeGroup is working on this and wants to launch a total of seven to eight Ariane 6 rockets this year, which have been delayed for years. According to the specialist portal “European Spaceflight”, there have been four Ariane launches this year so far. Unlike the Spectrum, the Ariane is a large launch vehicle that can carry much heavier payloads into geostationary orbits almost 36,000 kilometers above the ground.
