Isar Aerospace has become the first company in Europe to send a fully commercial launch vehicle into orbit, marking a milestone for the continent’s private space sector. The German firm’s two-stage rocket, named Spectrum, reached low-Earth orbit on Saturday after lifting off from a Norwegian spaceport located inside the Arctic Circle.
The achievement positions Isar as the frontrunner among several European launch startups working to bring competition to a market long viewed as stagnant. Founded in 2018 by three students at the Technical University of Munich, the company has now accomplished what much of the established European space industry took decades to reach.
Details of the Spectrum Launch
The 92-foot-tall (28-meter) Spectrum rocket lifted off at 4:12 pm EST (20:12 UTC) on Saturday from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway. It was 10:12 pm local time as the final light of the late summer sky faded. Seven minutes after liftoff, the rocket had reached orbit.
“Today, Isar Aerospace opened space from continental Europe,” said Daniel Metzler, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “Launch continues to be the largest bottleneck for the global space industry and from today on, there is a true alternative for commercial and institutional customers.”
Metzler added that Europe now has sovereign access to space, and said the company will focus on scaling production, delivering on its order pipeline, and meeting rising global demand.
From Campus Workshop to Orbit
Metzler founded Isar alongside classmates Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl in 2018. The company takes its name from the river that runs through Munich, the capital of Bavaria. The three began by tinkering with rocket parts in a campus workshop before deciding to turn their hobby into a business.
The path was not smooth. While Europe has a well-established space sector with a strong track record, the industry has not been known for rapid innovation.
“Especially early on, back in 2018, when, frankly, there was no ‘New Space’ industry, especially on this side of the Atlantic, people said it will never work,” Metzler told reporters. “People will continue to always say this will not work, and that will not work, until we just prove them wrong. Giving up is not in our DNA.”
Funding and Scale
Reaching orbit took Isar eight years, a timeline comparable to other successful commercial rocket startups in the West. During that period, the company raised roughly EUR 1 billion across several private financing rounds and built a workforce of nearly 500 employees. That makes Isar by far the most well-capitalized private launch company in Europe.
“Generally, I think you very much overestimate what you can do in the short term, but I think you underestimate what you can do in the long term,” Metzler said. “Don’t forget the human element behind all of this. There are engineers, technicians, operators, a strong support team, who just dare to dream, and against all odds, that team delivered.”
Isar reached low-Earth orbit within seven minutes of liftoff from Andøya Spaceport.
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Image: arstechnica.com
