🇩🇪🚀 German company Isar Aerospace successfully launched the Spectrum carrier rocket from the Andoya spaceport in Norway, for the first time placing a rocket developed by a private company into orbit from continental Europe. This was the second test launch of the Spectrum rocket. In March 2025, the first rocket of this type fell into the sea shortly after launch.
“We are in orbit! And we have just entered European history: for the first time, a rocket developed by a private company has reached orbit from the territory of continental Europe,” — the company announced.
The launch took place on September 5 at 22:12 Central European Time from the Andoya spaceport in Norway. Less than 4 minutes after liftoff, Spectrum reached an altitude of approximately 100 km above the Earth's surface — the so-called Kármán line, which marks the conventional boundary of space. Another 6 minutes later, video communication with Earth was interrupted as the rocket went beyond the maximum communication range.
As payload, the 28-meter-tall two-stage Spectrum carried five scientific satellites from several universities and one scientific experiment. The company plans to conduct several more launches of new rockets this year, and after the start of mass production, to increase the number of launches to 40 rockets per year.
For a long time, the vast majority of European satellites have been delivered to space by Elon Musk's company SpaceX. According to Isar Aerospace, last year the USA launched 198 rockets, while all European countries combined launched only eight.
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