A start-up from Bavaria is writing spaceflight history: the Spectrum launch vehicle built by Isar Aerospace reached Earth orbit during a test flight on Saturday. "We are in orbit! And have made European history," Isar Aerospace announced on X. "Germany can do spaceflight," wrote the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) spoke of the "beginning of a new era". Europe wants to become more independent in spaceflight in the future.
The rocket lifted off at around 10 p.m. CEST from the Norwegian spaceport of Andøya. The launch was streamed live. After roughly ten minutes, the signal was lost because the rocket had travelled too far away. It was the first time a privately developed rocket had reached orbit from the European continent, Isar Aerospace explained on X. The "Onward and Upward" mission had lifted off successfully and deployed payloads into orbit. "A new chapter for European spaceflight" had begun.
The Chancellor congratulated the company after the successful launch: "Great congratulations to Isar Aerospace on the successful launch of the Spectrum launch vehicle. For the first time, such a flight from the European continent into Earth orbit has succeeded. This is the beginning of a new era."
It was a "milestone that impressively demonstrates the innovative strength and technical expertise of our country", the BMFTR said on X. Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) said that "this outstanding success" showed that Germany was helping to shape the future of spaceflight "with bold research, sustainable industrial policy and cross-border cooperation".
The space start-up Isar Aerospace, based in Ottobrunn near Munich, builds launch vehicles for transporting small and medium-sized satellites. The two-stage Spectrum rocket is 28 metres tall and, with its ten engines, can carry payloads of up to one tonne into low Earth orbit. According to the company, its plant in Bavaria is capable of producing more than 30 such rockets a year.
In March last year, the company carried out a first test flight. On that occasion the rocket, also launched from Andøya, lifted off successfully and, as planned, crashed into the sea after 30 seconds of flight. The test flight of the rocket's second mission had been planned since January and was postponed several times because of technical problems or unfavourable weather conditions. A test flight scheduled for the beginning of April was called off because of a suspected leak in a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV).
"Bavaria is on its way into space," Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder wrote on X. "Warmest congratulations to our space start-up Isar Aerospace from Munich on its test flight into space. They are pioneers and flagships of the space strategy," Söder wrote. He announced that Bavaria intends to invest one billion euros in spaceflight by 2030.
Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 and is one of several German and European companies seeking to make Europe less dependent on the United States and Russia in spaceflight. The company is supported by the European Space Agency (ESA). Until now, the launch vehicle business has been dominated by US billionaire Elon Musk. His space company SpaceX has already sent the partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket into space hundreds of times.
Chancellor Merz visited the spaceport in Norway in March and spoke out in favour of greater European independence in spaceflight. At the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin in June, he described the aerospace industry as a "strategic key sector" that secures not only innovation and economic strength — but "also our sovereignty and our ability to defend our country and our alliance".
Federal Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has announced plans to invest a total of 35 billion euros in space security and military space projects by 2030.
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