Isar Aerospace's Spectrum becomes first rocket to reach orbit from Western Europe

German startup Isar Aerospace put its two-stage Spectrum rocket into orbit on September 5, 2025, launching from Andøya Space Center in northern Norway. It’s the first orbital launch ever conducted from Western European soil — a milestone that had eluded the region even as Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome has flown orbital missions from the European side of the continent for roughly six decades. Spectrum settled into an elliptical orbit about seven minutes after liftoff, with a low point near 180 km and a high point around 500 km.

The success came after a rocky development path. Spectrum’s March 2025 debut ended in failure less than a minute in, traced to an unintended vent-valve opening and loss of attitude control during the roll maneuver. The second attempt, dubbed ‘Onward and Upward,’ slipped repeatedly from January through the summer due to valve issues, weather, an intruding boat, a pressure-vessel leak, and anomalous fluid-system behavior before finally flying. Unlike the debut, this flight carried real payloads: five cubesats and a non-deployable science experiment.

Full mission success still hinges on a circularization burn and payload deployment from the upper stage. Regardless, the flight validates Isar’s ambitions to make Spectrum — capable of lofting about 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit — a workhorse for small and mid-size satellites. The company says its facility near Munich can build more than 30 rockets a year, positioning it as a potential anchor for sovereign European launch capacity.