Isar Aerospace reaches orbit with Spectrum on second flight

Isar Aerospace says its Spectrum rocket reached orbit and deployed payloads on only its second flight. Lift-off was 10:12 pm CEST on September 5 from the company's dedicated pad at Andøya Space in Norway. The mission name, in the company press release, is Onward and Upward.

Isar calls itself the first commercial space company from Europe to deliver satellites into orbit. The vehicle transited MaxQ, completed main-engine cutoff and stage separation, ignited the second stage, crossed the Kármán line at 100 kilometers, jettisoned the fairing, circularized, and separated the spacecraft.

The payloads were selected through the German Space Agency at DLR Microlauncher Competition, funded through ESA Boost!. CEO and co-founder Daniel Metzler called the flight sovereign European access to space.

Spectrum launch vehicles 3 through 7 are already in production. A new 40,000 square meter plant is meant to support up to 40 launch vehicles a year. A second launch complex is under construction in Nova Scotia, Canada. The company, founded in 2018 near Munich, now has more than 400 employees across five international locations.

Isar is still working with customers to confirm the status of the satellites after separation. Getting to orbit and proving the spacecraft are healthy are not the same claim.

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