Isar Aerospace lofts Spectrum into orbit — first fully commercial European launch

German company Isar Aerospace on Saturday successfully placed its two-stage Spectrum rocket into low-Earth orbit after a launch from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway.

The 28-meter (92-foot) vehicle lifted off at 20:12 UTC (10:12 local) and reached orbit seven minutes later. With that flight, Spectrum became the first fully commercial European launch vehicle to attain orbit.

In a press release, co-founder and CEO Daniel Metzler said Isar had "opened space from continental Europe" and that the launch provides "a true alternative for commercial and institutional customers." He added the company will focus on rapidly scaling production and fulfilling its order pipeline.

Isar was founded in 2018 by Metzler, Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl while they were students at the Technical University of Munich. Over eight years the company raised roughly $1 billion in private financing and now employs nearly 500 people.

The success is seen as a boost for competition in Europe’s launch market, historically dominated by government-backed operators such as Arianespace and Avio. European officials view private entrants as a way to lower launch costs and strengthen strategic autonomy.

Spectrum is also the first rocket built predominantly in Germany to reach orbit. German leaders welcomed the achievement: Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who visited the launch site earlier in the year, congratulated the company on X.