Isar Aerospace makes history – first satellite launch from Western Europe
On the night between Saturday and Sunday, 5 September at 10:12 p.m. local time in Norway, the German company Isar Aerospace launched its Spectrum rocket on its second test flight.
The mission, named Onward and Upward, not only succeeded in placing six CubeSats into orbit, but also set several European records: the first satellite launch by a private company, and the first launch from Norway (and from Western Europe).
Europe can now launch satellites into space from its “own” soil.
The company’s first test flight in March last year ended quickly when the rocket exploded about 30 seconds after liftoff. The flight still provided a great deal of information on how the rocket performed as a complete system, and the second test flight now went almost perfectly.
The launch site is the island of Andøya in the Lofoten area of northern Norway, which until now has been used only for sounding-rocket launches. Isar Aerospace is also building a launch complex in Nova Scotia, Canada. From these two sites, the company will be able to launch rockets onto a wide range of orbits.
A launch site so close to Finland is an excellent development. Sending Finnish satellites into space now requires only a short transport to Norway.
Worldwide demand for satellite launch capacity is high, and SpaceX’s dominant position has also become something of a problem.
Isar Aerospace aims to meet that demand as quickly as possible and plans to be able to launch as many as 40 rockets a year in the near future. The company has built a highly automated 40,000 m² production facility in Germany, where rockets 3–7 are already in production.
At a press briefing on Sunday, Isar Aerospace CEO and co-founder Daniel Metzler said the current version of Spectrum is still a prototype, and that the production version will include several improvements to cut costs and streamline manufacturing. The company is also studying the possibility of making the rocket partially reusable, and a higher-capacity version is under consideration as well.
Another German company, Rocket Factory Augsburg, is about to send its RFA ONE rocket on a test flight from SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland. The number of European rockets entering service will therefore continue to grow.