Isar Aerospace reaches orbit with Additive Manufacturing-enabled Spectrum rocket
Isar Aerospace, Ottobrunn, Germany, has announced that its two-stage Spectrum launch vehicle successfully reached orbit after lifting off from Norway’s Andøya Spaceport on September 5.
Isar Aerospace uses Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) to manufacture complex engine components. The vehicle is 28 m tall and 2 m in diameter, has ten engines and is designed to carry payloads of up to 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit.
“A historic launch from Andøya Spaceport in Norway today, the first European Launcher Challenger to reach orbit,” stated ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher. “Spectrum quite literally rose to the challenge and delivered its payloads in low Earth orbit. An astounding achievement by German company Isar Aerospace, founded only eight years ago, and backed by the European Space Agency. This is yet another step towards a more diverse autonomous European launch service sector, and I am excited for what is still to come!”
The launch followed Spectrum’s first test flight in 2025, which lasted 30 seconds. The vehicle cleared the launch pad, demonstrating its ability to complete liftoff.
For its second Spectrum launch, Isar Aerospace carried six commercial and educational CubeSats, as well as an experiment intended to demonstrate new technologies in orbit and provide educational experiences for students in Europe. Isar Aerospace also won the first Microlauncher Competition awarded by the German Space Agency at DLR, resulting in the selection of the payloads for this flight.
Isar Aerospace was initially supported by ESA’s Business Incubation Centre and has since received several rounds of co-funding through the European Space Agency’s Boost! programme, which supports commercial initiatives offering space transportation services. Under a Boost! contract, ESA supported the development of the Spectrum launch service, including this second Spectrum flight.
In 2025, Isar Aerospace was one of the launch service operators selected for the European Launcher Challenge, with its contract signed recently. As a first milestone, the European Launcher Challenge requires launch service providers to achieve an orbital launch no later than 2027. With this flight, Isar Aerospace became the first provider to reach this milestone under the European Launcher Challenge.
“All launches are special, but what Isar Aerospace achieved today is historic: the first European company to reach orbit with their own launch vehicle,” added Géraldine Naja, ESA’s Director of Space Transportation. “A huge congratulation to the teams involved, who with this launch also complete the first milestone of ESA’s European Launcher Challenge, looking forward to seeing many more European launches, including from Andøya Spaceport in Norway in the near future.”
