Isar Aerospace: a New Beginning (for Europe)

The debut flight of the Spectrum rocket ended 30 seconds after liftoff from the European spaceport in Andøya. A “success,” according to the company, which gathered valuable data for upcoming launches. It’s a similar approach to that of Elon Musk’s company. Meanwhile, Europe moves forward at its own pace in funding other launch vehicles.

BY EMILIO COZZI

Following the launch by Germany’s Isar Aerospace, the first by a European startup, hope certainly remains. Alongside it, however, are some doubts, as about 30 seconds after liftoff from Norway’s Andøya island, the two-stage Spectrum launcher veered off its nominal trajectory and crashed into the sea, not far from the launch infrastructure.

Despite its brief duration, the test marks a historic milestone for the future of the European space sector. First and foremost, it was the first orbital launch attempt carried out from continental European territory. Secondly, it was conducted by a new player among those expected to expand the range of European-made launch vehicles.

Called “Going Full Spectrum,” the test began with a nominal liftoff and ignition of the first stage. Shortly after, the rocket began to slow down, tilted, and fell into the sea.

Spectrum rose only a few hundred meters, barely clearing the cliff overlooking the base. Then, like a weary Icarus, it disintegrated upon hitting the water, shattering the frigid air. Despite the expression on the face of one of the young livestream commentators showing little enthusiasm, Isar Aerospace was quick to emphasize that, beyond the need to collect data, there were no minimum objectives to meet, much less orbits to reach. The goal of the test was and remains to gather as much data as possible to improve in the future and return to the launch pad as soon as possible, potentially by the end of the year. The company also noted that Spectrum is a launch vehicle built almost entirely in house by the Munich based firm. Words that closely echo those heard after SpaceX’s Starship flights.

“Our first test flight met all our expectations and was a great success,” said Isar Aerospace CEO and co-founder Daniel Metzler. “We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight, and were also able to validate our Flight Termination System.”
It should be acknowledged that not even Elon Musk has ever celebrated such a spectacular failure with quite the same joy. Moreover, despite the official statements, it still remains unclear whether the flight termination system was intentionally activated to bring the rocket down into the sea, or if the explosion was triggered upon impact with the water.

Still, whether considered a success or not, this result, in fact, should not be enough for a Europe that urgently needs new and effective launch solutions and reliable access to space.

Like SpaceX?

Hope is fueled by memories of that now distant March 24, 2006, nineteen years ago, when from another island, but at tropical latitudes, a different launch vehicle made its debut. It belonged to another company that was, at the time, also a startup: Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX. Falcon 1 experienced an anomaly about half a minute after lifting off from the pad. And before it finally reached orbit successfully, it failed two more times, bringing the company to the brink of bankruptcy. To be fair, it’s worth noting that during its debut, even the futuristic and certainly more complex Starship did not survive much longer than Spectrum.

Now, just like then, Isar Aerospace has already announced its intention to return to flight as soon as possible. Two more Spectrum rockets are already in the assembly phase. “We have laid the foundation to meet the growing global demand for flexible satellite launch services. Now it’s time to analyze all the data, learn, iterate, and get back on the launch pad as soon as possible.”
The approach is the same as SpaceX’s. One can only hope the results will be as well.

Born to “disrupt the industry”

Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle. The first stage is powered by nine Aquila engines fueled by liquid oxygen and propane. The second stage, responsible for delivering the payload to its designated orbit, uses a single engine of the same type. According to Isar Aerospace, the system is capable of carrying a payload of one ton to low Earth orbit and 700 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit.

“Europe is at the point where the US launch industry was 15 years ago,” Metzler said back in 2020. Since then, a lot has changed. But perhaps not enough, especially when turning attention to Europe. While other countries such as the United States, India, and China have increased the pace of their progress, the Old Continent has found itself caught in a launcher crisis, suddenly lacking the means to ensure autonomous access to outer space.

These issues may have been resolved from a technical point of view, as demonstrated by the recent success of Ariane 6 and the upcoming return of Vega C to the launch pad. However, challenges remain in terms of launch frequency and competitiveness.

It is a situation that Isar Aerospace, among others, promises to change. Also in 2020, Ars Technica published the headline, “A German startup wants to disrupt the launch industry in Europe.” That disruption has not happened yet, but the intention has at least received one concrete, though explosive, confirmation.

The angel who came from SpaceX

Isar Aerospace was founded just two years earlier by a group of German engineers who considered the commercial monopoly held by Arianespace, along with the manufacturing duopoly of ArianeGroup and Avio, a burden. The founders were Daniel Metzler, Markus Brandl, and Josef Peter Fleischmann.

Soon after, a business angel joined the trio, ready to believe in and fund the project. His name was Bulent Altan, an aerospace engineer of Turkish descent with a strong background. At SpaceX, he had been one of the key figures behind the early successes of the Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule. According to his former colleagues on X, during the company’s early test flights from Omelek Island, he would bring traditional Turkish treats to feed Elon Musk’s team. He also helped launch the Starlink constellation before leaving the company in Hawthorne and joining Mynaric, a producer of laser communication systems for airborne and satellite networks.

Altan, now a board member at Isar, was quick to emphasize the importance of the first test flight. It is quite possible he was the one who brought the SpaceX philosophy into the German company. “The Isar Aerospace team did a fantastic job. As I have seen before, it often takes a few attempts to reach orbit, but after today’s test flight I am very confident that Isar Aerospace will be one of the fastest to succeed. This test flight is a great success for Isar Aerospace and for the space industry as a whole.”

Altan is also a founding partner of Alpine Space Ventures, an investment firm focused on supporting space technology.
Over the years, Isar Aerospace has gained traction and convinced both European and international investors that the time for change had come, or at least the time to try a new approach. The company has raised a total of 400 million euros, including 70 million from the NATO Innovation Fund. This is yet another sign of the growing interest in space access technologies, and of how strategic Isar’s geographic location has become.

A new European spaceport

In 2021, the German company signed an agreement with Andøya Spaceport to launch from the Norwegian island. Until then, only sounding rockets, small suborbital launchers, had lifted off from there. In practical terms, no launch vehicle had ever left continental European soil to reach Earth orbit. French Guiana, where the Kourou spaceport is located, is an overseas territory of France in South America.

Andøya’s position is one of the most favorable for reaching polar orbits, which pass over both poles, and sun synchronous orbits, where satellites pass over the same location at the same local time each day, ensuring consistent lighting conditions. Both are ideal for Earth observation and communication missions.

There, Isar Aerospace has exclusive access to the first launch pad, which was designed and built by the company to meet its own needs. The company has also signed an agreement with Cnes, the French space agency, to use the Diamant launch pad in Kourou. Its long term plan is to build and launch between 30 and 40 rockets per year. In the short to medium term, that number is expected to reach ten annually, as stated by Chief Commercial Officer Stella Guillen in an interview with SpaceNews.

Recently, the Norwegian Space Agency Nosa signed a contract with Isar Aerospace to launch satellites for the Arctic Ocean Surveillance program Aos. The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority Ncaa was the first civil aviation authority in Europe to grant a launch operator license for a test flight of an orbital vehicle from continental Europe.

At the starting blocks

Together with other companies that are growing with support and funding from Europe, such as HyImpulse, Latitude, MaiaSpace, Orbex, Rocket Factory Augsburg, The Exploration Company, and Pld Space, the sector is moving toward greater competition and the availability of a lightweight launch vehicle that can be built, assembled, and rolled out to the pad in a short time.

Many months after announcing it, the European Space Agency has finally published the call for proposals for the Launcher Challenge. The goal is to select a series of European launch service providers. Winners will be awarded contracts covering two separate components: “Launch services for Esa and other European institutional customers to be performed between 2026 and 2030” and “Demonstration of increased launch capacity, including at least one demonstration flight of the enhanced launch capability, expected by 2028.”

True, 2026 is just around the corner. And although all the companies involved are fairly advanced in the development of their respective vehicles, the final decision on the allocation of funds, 169 million euros for each selected proposal, will only be made at the Ministerial Council meeting in November 2025.

That is also why the test flight by Isar Aerospace remains significant. It marked a step toward the stars. Perhaps not a fully secure one, but as the history and approach of SpaceX have shown, launch, fail, learn, launch again, it is a step worthy of trust.