4.09.2026
Isar Aerospace Could Attempt Second Spectrum Flight as Early as 4 September
Credit: Isar Aerospace
Maritime safety notices indicate that a week-long launch window for Isar Aerospace’s second Spectrum flight will open on 4 September.
On 1 September, the Norwegian Coastal Administration issued a warning outlining that rocket launch operations were expected to be conducted daily between 16:00 and 21:35 UTC from 4 to 10 September. The warning establishes two maritime danger areas extending northwest from Andøya. While the notice doesn’t name Isar Aerospace, the coordinates match areas previously published by Norwegian authorities for the company’s previous launch attempt in June.
A separate notice published by Andøya Space on 27 August confirms planned launch activity from its orbital launch site between 4 and 10 September. The site’s only user is currently Isar Aerospace, which maintains a dedicated launchpad. This notice also does not identify the company by name.
The notices do not confirm that Isar Aerospace will attempt a launch between 4 and 10 September. They simply establish a seven-day period during which an attempt could be conducted. The company has not made any public announcement about the launch window and did not respond to a request for comment from European Spaceflight before publication.
Isar Aerospace has made several attempts to conduct Spectrum’s second flight. An initial attempt in January was scrubbed to address an issue with a pressurisation valve. An attempt in March was first postponed due to unfavourable weather and then scrubbed after a range violation caused by an unauthorised boat entering the danger area. An April attempt was then scrubbed due to a leak in a composite overwrapped pressure vessel. Finally, the company stood down from an attempt in June after detecting off-nominal behaviour in the rocket’s fluid systems.
The mission, which the company has called Onward and Upward, will serve as Spectrum’s qualification flight and will be the rocket’s first flight to carry payloads. The rocket will carry five CubeSats and one experiment selected by the German space agency DLR as part of its Microlauncher competition, which Isar Aerospace won in April 2021. The competition was supported by the European Space Agency through its Boost! programme.
Quelle: European Spaceflight
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Update: 5.09.2026
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Isar Aerospace Calls Off 4 September Spectrum Launch Attempt
Credit: Isar Aerospace
German launch services provider Isar Aerospace appears to have scrubbed a planned 4 September attempt to conduct the second flight of its Spectrum rocket. The company called off the attempt several hours after launch-related road closures came into effect.
At 10:39 CEST on 4 September, Nordland Police announced that land and maritime traffic restrictions around the Andøya Spaceport had been activated in connection with what it described as a “planned rocket launch.” The land restriction, which includes road closures, was due to remain in force from midday until midnight. However, at 14:25 CEST, police issued a further update stating that the traffic ban around Andøya Spaceport had been lifted. With the road closure being lifted, no attempt to launch Spectrum will be made today.
Isar Aerospace has yet to publicly comment on the scrub or, for that matter, the attempt itself. The company has also not publicly acknowledged the broader approved launch window, which will remain open until 10 September. Unlike the several previous attempts to conduct Spectrum’s second flight, the company has so far provided no public updates on this latest campaign.
While no official reason has been given, weather may have played a role. Conditions around Andøya had been windy, with observations from nearby Andøya Airport recording winds of around 24 knots. Isar Aerospace has previously postponed Spectrum launch attempts due to unfavourable weather.
An initial attempt to launch the mission in January was ultimately called off due to a pressurisation valve issue. The March attempt was first delayed by poor weather and later scrubbed after an unauthorised boat entered the exclusion zone. The next attempt, in April, was halted because of a leak in a composite overwrapped pressure vessel. Most recently, in June, the company once again called off an attempt, this time after detecting off-nominal behaviour in the rocket’s fluid systems.
Quelle: European Spaceflight
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Erfolgreicher Start von Germany Isar Aerospace Spectrum Flight4
Quelle: isar aerospace
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History for European spaceflight: Isar Aerospace reaches orbit and deploys payloads on second flight
Andøya, 5 September 2026 – Today, Isar Aerospace became the first commercial space company from Europe to successfully deliver satellites into orbit, on what was only its second flight. Mission ‘Onward and Upward’ lifted off from Isar Aerospace’s dedicated launch complex at Andøya Space in Norway at 10:12 pm CEST, deploying payloads in orbit. “Today, Isar Aerospace opened space from Continental Europe. 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”, said Daniel Metzler, CEO and Co-Founder of Isar Aerospace. Isar Aerospace is working with the customers to confirm the satellite status.
Daniel Metzler, CEO and Co-Founder of Isar Aerospace, said: “We achieved within a few years what had taken the European space industry decades before. Europe now has sovereign access to space. We have entered into a new chapter for European spaceflight. I am incredibly proud of our team, that has made this success story from Europe possible. We will now focus on rapidly scaling launch vehicle production, deliver on our order pipeline, and meet surging global demand.”
Isar Aerospace’s qualification flight broke several records in European commercial spaceflight: The vehicle successfully transited MaxQ, completed MECO and stage separation, and then ignited second stage as planned. It crossed the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 kilometers and jettisoned the payload fairing before reaching orbital velocity. After completing circularization burn, spacecraft separation was completed successfully.
The mission’s payloads were selected through the Microlauncher Competition of the German Space Agency at DLR that provides educational institutions and start-ups with low-cost access to space. The Microlauncher Competition is funded through ESA Boost!
Today’s mission ‘Onward and Upward’ proved Isar Aerospace’s orbital launch capability. In parallel, the company has advanced its global network of available launch sites and is nearing completion of Europe’s largest integrated production facility for launch vehicles. In addition to its current launch site in Andøya, Norway, Isar Aerospace is constructing a launch complex in Nova Scotia, Canada, covering mid- to high-inclination orbits critical for Earth observation and communications.
A historic turning point for Europe
Today marks a new era for the global space industry. The launch is not only a technical masterpiece, but also a breakthrough that will influence Europe's strategic, economic, and technological future. Customers around the world now have a sovereign launch option at their disposal.
Next ‘Spectrum’ launch vehicles already in production
Isar Aerospace's model is designed to build scalable launch capabilities. That is why the company is not only developing and building a launch vehicle, but has also built the “machine behind the machine”, including a vertically integrated manufacturing model and a high degree of automation in production. ‘Spectrum’ launch vehicles 3-7 are already in production. With the opening of the new 40,000 m² production facility, Isar Aerospace will eventually have the capacity to manufacture up to 40 launch vehicles per year.
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About Isar Aerospace
The European space company Isar Aerospace offers launch services for transporting small and medium-sized satellites and satellite constellations into orbit. The launch vehicles used to transport these satellites are developed, manufactured, and tested almost entirely in-house. Headquartered near Munich, Germany, Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 and has grown to over 400 employees, working across 5 international locations. Private funding from international investors provides strong backing for the company’s pioneering approach to scale and industrialize launch vehicle production through vertical integration. More information: www.isaraerospace.com.
Quelle: Isar Aerospace
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Update: 6.09.2026
Isar Aerospace achieves first launch to orbit from continental Europe
In-depth
At 21:12 BST/22:12 CEST Isar Aerospace’s two-stage launch vehicle soared from the launch pad. Spectrum is 28 m tall, 2 m in diameter and, with its ten engines, it is targeting to launch payloads of up to 1000 kg to low Earth orbit.
“A historic launch from Andøya Spaceport in Norway today, the first European Launcher Challenger to reach orbit” said ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher, “Spectrum quite literally rose to the challenge and delivered its payloads in low Earth orbit. An astounding achievement by German company Isar Aerospace, founded only eight years ago, and backed by the European Space Agency. This is yet another step towards a more diverse autonomous European launch service sector, and I am excited for what is still to come!”
This launch follows the rocket’s first test flight, that flew for 30 seconds, clearing the launch pad and proved Spectrum can achieve one of the hardest parts of space transportation: liftoff.
Unlike the test flight in 2025, for this second Spectrum launch Isar Aerospace has included six commercial and educational CubeSats and an experiment that aims to prove new technologies in orbit as well as providing educational experiences for students in Europe.
The mission ‘Onward and Upward’ is supported by ESA’s Boost! program. Isar Aerospace also won the first Microlauncher Competition awarded by the German Space Agency at DLR, which resulted in the selection of the payloads on this flight.
Initially supported by ESA’s Business Incubation Centre, Isar Aerospace has received several rounds of co-funding as part of the European Space Agency’s Boost! programme that helps commercial initiatives offering space transportation services. Under Boost! contract, ESA supported the development of the Spectrum launch service, including this second Spectrum flight .
In 2025 Isar Aerospace was one of the launch service operators selected for the European Launcher Challenge, and their contract was signed recently. As a first important milestone, the European Launcher Challenge requires launch service providers to achieve an orbital launch no later than 2027. This flight has demonstrated the Spectrum launch system successfully, making Isar Aerospace the first provider to reach this milestone for the European Launcher Challenge.
“All launches are special, but what Isar Aerospace achieved today is historic: the first European company to reach orbit with their own launch vehicle” said Géraldine Naja, ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, “a huge congratulation to the teams involved, who with this launch also complete the first milestone of ESA’s European Launcher Challenge, looking forward to seeing many more European launches, including from Andøya Spaceport in Norway in the near future.”
Quelle: ESA