Handelsblatt40 minutes agoTech2 min readGermany

Isar Aerospace reaches Earth orbit from European soil for the first time with the Spectrum rocket

Quick Look

Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket successfully reached Earth orbit from Andøya Cosmodrome in Norway.
After an earlier failed attempt, this time the orbital flight was successful.
The Bundeswehr is also planning to enter space, but sees bottlenecks.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

Isar Aerospace had previously lost the Spectrum rocket during a launch attempt, which crashed into the sea. The successful orbital flight marks the first European ground launch of a carrier rocket into orbit.

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On the first attempt she fell into the sea after 30 seconds - this time it worked. Isar Aerospace is making history with its launch vehicle.

Andøya cosmodrome in Norway: Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket had already crashed into the sea here once in 2025. Photo: -/Isar Aerospace/dpa

Dusseldorf. The Bavarian space start-up Isar Aerospace reached Earth orbit as hoped on Saturday with a “Spectrum” carrier rocket – the first orbital flight to originate from European soil.

The rocket lifted off from Norway's Andøya Cosmodrome at 10:12 p.m. and then exceeded all expectations. After ten minutes, the video transmission to the ground stopped. Then began a half-hour wait until Isar Aerospace could make contact with the second stage of its rocket again.

Nico Perakis, chief engineer at Isar Aerospace, said: “This was simply incredible and the result of hard work.” But the launch is only “the second step in many milestones that we have ahead of us.”

Marco Fuchs, head of the Bremen space company OHB and major shareholder of Isar Aerospace competitor RFA, told the Handelsblatt: "Wow, great success! Congratulations, that's a great reward for hard work."

Defense

The Bundeswehr wants to go into space – but there is a bottleneck

For Isar Aerospace it is a historic success for several reasons. Not only will the company enter the history books, but the company's valuation will also increase dramatically. Just a few weeks ago it completed a financing round of 270 million euros at a valuation including new capital of two billion euros.

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What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

Isar Aerospace will conduct further test launches of the Spectrum rocket over the next few months to demonstrate its reliability.
Likely · Within months
Isar Aerospace's valuation will increase significantly due to the successful launch, as suggested in the article.
Very likely · Within weeks

Open Questions

What specific payloads is Isar Aerospace planning for future missions?
How will the Bundeswehr develop its space capabilities given the bottlenecks mentioned?
What technical improvements have been made to the Spectrum rocket since the failed test?