Into orbit from Europe: Isar Aerospace and others

The Andøya Spaceport in Norway could be the first launch site to reach low Earth orbit from continental Europe. The German company could embark on a historic mission this year. However, the market remains uncertain.

BY EMILIO COZZI

Among the major space powers, Europe – if we consider it as a whole, despite permissible distinctions – is the only one lacking a spaceport within its borders. The Centre Spatial Guyanais is indeed in French territory, but it is located in the overseas region of French Guiana, challenging to define as “Europe.” This is particularly due to logistical reasons: transferring a satellite, telescope, probe, or any payload by ship entails a journey of thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic to Kourou.

All of this has been the case until now.

Because, at least in part, something is about to change: from the island of Andøya in Norway, the first launch from continental territory to low Earth orbit could take place. And a German commercial company, Isar Aerospace, might be the one to accomplish this feat. The third novelty is that a micro-launcher made in Europe will be lifting off.

These three small innovations, taken together, can be attributed, if not to a gate, at least to a window open to a perspective of space economy with still uncertain boundaries.

Andøya Space controls the spaceport, inaugurated in November 2023, owned 90% by the Norwegian government and 10% by the company Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace. The island is located at 69 degrees latitude, further north than the Arctic Circle; the base is positioned on the coast just steps (literally) from the Atlantic.

Unlike other facilities like those in Kourou and Cape Canaveral, the site is far from the Equator. Departing from there does not have the advantage of the Earth’s rotational thrust, much more intense at latitudes near 0 and capable of providing the speed needed for orbits with medium or equatorial inclination. However, the location makes the site ideal for reaching polar orbits or, more importantly, heliosynchronous orbits, along which satellites pass over the same areas always at the same time. These are the most used for Earth observation because the sensors detect the terrain under constant lighting conditions.

To be precise, Andøya is the second orbital spaceport inaugurated in Europe: in January 2023, the King of Sweden cut the ribbon at the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna. Both have a history of suborbital launches and atmospheric balloons. However, the Swedish one, except for hosting the first tests of the reusable launcher prototype Themis developed by ArianeGroup, is currently without contracts for the use of launch platforms.

The Isar contract to launch Spectrum

Isar Aerospace, in 2021, signed a contract for “exclusive access for a period of up to twenty years to one of the launch pads on the island of Andøya. As the site operator, Andøya Space also provides facilities for payload integration and on-site technical infrastructure.” In other words, the first platform is theirs.

Isar’s vehicle is called Spectrum, a two-stage rocket with liquid propulsion (oxygen and propane) capable of carrying payloads up to one ton into low Earth orbit. Translated, this means a medium-sized satellite or, in rideshare, several smallsats, micro, and nanosatellites. The goal, after all, is not power but, as the market dictates, flexibility.

A small launcher can be assembled and prepared more quickly and dedicated to a single, specific mission. “Taylor made,” in jargon.

The rapid availability of a vehicle for space access is what companies like Rocket Lab (the Electron rocket can carry up to 300 kilograms into heliosynchronous orbit), various startups, and large European companies such as ArianeGroup (which is developing Maia), as well as Indian and Chinese entities, have been aiming for some time.

Shortly, the availability of a spaceport in Norway could ensure Europe greater autonomy in accessing space with small satellites. A market experiencing strong growth thanks to the miniaturization of components and lower costs compared to large platforms, two factors that translate into flight and orbital test opportunities for smaller companies and research institutes. This is not yet the case for small launchers, which must contend with the overwhelming competition from SpaceX.

Investments and agreements

The first orbital launch from Europe could take place as early as 2024. In March of last year, Isar Aerospace, based in Munich, announced that it had raised €155 million in funding from a group of European investors, including 7-Industries Holding, Bayern Kapital through Scale Up Fund Bavaria, Earlybird Venture Capital, HV Capital, Lakestar, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, UVC Partners, and Vsquared Ventures. HV Capital and Porsche SE will sit on Isar’s board of directors. This comes in addition to another funding round of the same amount subscribed by investors in 2021.

Isar has already signed several contracts for orbit delivery services: for the first two launches from Andøya, with the German Space Agency and the European Space Agency, for the transport of dozens of microsatellites. In April 2022, the company also signed a launch service agreement with Airbus for a satellite dedicated to Earth observation. Since then, orders have multiplied, including agreements with the Italian D-Orbit for the transport of the Ion carrier, joined by EnduroSat, OroraTech, Astrocast, and Exotrail.

Spaceflight has booked a launch from Norway with the option of a second from French Guiana.

A market already crowded, but yet to be born

It is an indication – another one – that micro-launchers could soon no longer be considered a niche. Cnes, the French space agency, which manages the Kourou spaceport, is modifying the Diamant platform, from which the homonymous French rockets took off in the 1970s, to make it suitable for micro-launcher takeoffs. In July 2022, Isar was selected for the use of the base, and another German operator, Rocket Factory Augsburg, received approval a year later. Five more companies have been preselected for the use of Diamant: the Italian Avio, the German HyImpulse, the aforementioned MaiaSpace, the Spanish Pld Space, and another French company, Latitude.

For the record, it should be noted that the first company to attempt an orbital launch from Europe was Virgin Orbit, taking off from Cornwall, England, in January 2023. Things did not go well. Space once again emphasized how the sector is not conducive to non-extreme approaches. A warning for startups with high hopes, not only to achieve their goals but also to do so reliably. Always.

Intentions are there. It is the market that is more uncertain, at least today.

The analysis of real possibilities must indeed start from prices: the liftoff with a micro-launcher has an absolute cost lower than that of a more powerful rocket. However, the cost per kilogram is higher, due to scale. If no one in the world can beat SpaceX in this field (in all fields, to be honest, given the reliability of Elon Musk’s company), startups and small-sized rockets are not even participating in the same race. To reach heliosynchronous orbit, SpaceX promises a cost of $300,000 for a payload of 50 kilograms, in rideshare, sharing the load with other customers. That’s $6,000 per kilogram. A launch, exclusive, with Spectrum, according to CEO Daniel Metzler, will cost between $10.7 million and $12.8 million: in essence, three times the price per kilogram. With Rocket Lab’s Electron (7.5 million for 300 kilograms in orbit), the dollars to send each kilogram beyond the sky are $25,000. And considering the launch pace set by SpaceX (four rideshare launches with microsatellites in 2023), a frequency destined to increase in the coming years, the comparison remains merciless. At least for now.