The First Commercial European Space Company to Successfully Deliver Satellites to Orbit

Isar Aerospace has successfully reached orbit and deployed payloads on the second flight of its Spectrum launch vehicle, marking the company’s first successful orbital mission.

The “Onward and Upward” mission launched from Isar Aerospace’s dedicated complex at Andøya Space in Norway on September 5 at 10:12 p.m. CEST. The company said it is working with customers to confirm the status of the deployed satellites.

The mission completed several key milestones, including MaxQ, main engine cutoff, stage separation, second-stage ignition, payload fairing separation, and orbital velocity. Following a successful circularization burn, spacecraft separation was completed as planned.

The payloads were selected through the German Space Agency at DLR’s Microlauncher Competition, which provides educational institutions and startups with access to space.

Daniel Metzler, CEO and co-founder of Isar Aerospace, said the mission marks a new chapter for European spaceflight and provides European customers with an additional commercial launch option. He said the company will now focus on scaling production, delivering on its existing order pipeline, and meeting growing launch demand.

Isar Aerospace is expanding its launch infrastructure alongside production capacity.

In addition to its Andøya launch site, the company is developing a launch complex in Nova Scotia, Canada, while nearing completion of a 40,000-square-meter production facility in Germany.

Spectrum vehicles 3 through 7 are already in production, with the new facility ultimately designed to support production of up to 40 launch vehicles per year.

Image Credits: Isar Aerospace